Published: February 08, 2008 01:46 pm         

County officials aren't hopeful about state help on jails

Governor hopes to offer help next year

FRANKFORT, Ky. — County officials desperate for the state to lend them a hand to stem the bleeding in their budgets from county jails found little comfort Thursday from Gov. Steve Beshear and key lawmakers who addressed the winter conference of the County Judge/Executives Association in Lexington.



Only Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, gave them hope – and he hasn’t heard from Beshear’s administration after offering to help work on the problem.



“We haven’t seen any action – it’s just talk,” said Laurel County Judge/Executive Lawrence Kuhl whose county jail is sapping the general fund to the tune of $1.5 million this year.



That was before Stivers or Beshear addressed the group, but after House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, told the officials they understood the problem and were committed to helping them.



But the mood of Judge/Executives wasn’t hopeful, as several said they’re accustomed to such talk from Frankfort officials who “go back to Frankfort and forget about us,” as Barren County Judge/Executive Davie Greer put it.



Vince Lang, Executive Director of the County Judge/Executives Association and former Hart County Judge/Executive said the county officials can’t be blamed for their skepticism.



“People have been hearing the same thing for 20 years,” Lang said.



And the talk they got from Beshear Thursday night wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Beshear said the state has no money for new programs but said he will appoint a task force to study ways to manage jail populations.



“We’re not planning on introducing any additional jail legislation during this session,” Beshear said afterward. “I definitely want us to come up with a legislative package that we can introduce in the next session of the General Assembly.”



A recent series on jails by CNHI News Service reported the state inmate population has grown from 2,800 in 1970 to more than 22,400 at the end of 2007 with 8,000 of them in county jails where prisoners often sleep on floors and the costs of operations drain county budgets and eat up funding for things like roads, water and sewer lines and recreational facilities. One reason found for the explosion in the number of inmates was a two-decade long effort by lawmakers to toughen penalties and crack down on drug crimes.



Subsequent to publication of that series, Beshear in his budget address to a joint session of the General Assembly on Jan. 29 called for a task force to recommend changes in the penal code to provide alternatives to incarcerating some non-violent offenders. But Thursday he couldn’t provide any names of who might serve on the task force.



“(Justice) Secretary (Michael) Brown is working right now to put it together and we hope to be able to name that in the next few weeks,” Beshear said.



Beshear was politely received but his speech provided little immediate hope and offered no specifics. He reprised themes from his budget address about the lack of money, promising to put the state on sound financial footing from which the state can move forward in the future. He talked about the growing inmate population, pointing out the number of state inmates exceeds the population of half the state’s counties.



“I know that is significant and is such a burden on your local governments,” Beshear said.



Stivers, who has previously pushed legislation to lower jails’ medical costs and along with Sen. Dan Kelly, R-Springfield, tried to pass legislation creating treatment options for inmates whose crimes are driven by substance abuse, was more warmly received.



“Sen. Stivers is very serious in trying to help the counties with this situation,” Kuhl said.



Stivers, who has prosecuted and defended criminal cases, last year promised the county officials to help them find solutions and joined a working group which studied the jail problem. Thursday he said there must be systemic change which protects society while not jailing those who suffer from substance abuse or cost taxpayers more than the crimes for which they’re imprisoned or jailed. He said the system sometimes produces results which seem illogical.



“Why do you put a person under a $10,000 bond when all he faces is a $500 fine?” Stivers asked.



He said the state must reduce the time between arrest and adjudication when counties are responsible for inmate costs; increase the state’s bed allotment funding for county jails, and adjust bond and bail schedules. He said he has offered to work with Beshear’s administration on the problem.



“But I have to tell you, I haven’t heard a lot from anybody about what’s going on,” Stivers said.



Beshear said Stivers will be asked to serve on the task force along with other lawmakers and representatives of the criminal justice system and said again he hopes it will produce recommendations to next year’s session of the General Assembly.



But Judge/Executives like Bobby Carpenter of Greenup County and Floyd County’s R.D. “Doc” Marshall say they’re hurting right now. Carpenter said the counties have in the past discussed suing the state over jail funding.



“We don’t really want to do it, but it’s on the table,” Carpenter said after Beshear’s speech.



Floyd County is subsidizing its jail with $1.4 million from its General Fund this year. The 102-bed jail currently has over 160 inmates.



“If I could shut it down tomorrow, I would,” Marshall said.



Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort, Ky. He may be contacted by email at rellis@cnhi.com.