More Than Jail Deaths Need Attention
Thank you to LEO for keeping Metro jail issues and jail deaths in front of the public. As your piece stated, it is a complex issue. Deaths seem to be the only thing that gets public attention. These deaths clearly have to stop but there are other concerns that should also receive attention. These problems took decades to develop and there is no quick fix. We are going backwards.
Here is the evidence:
1. Three years ago a decision was made to abandon the 440-bed Community Corrections Center on E. Chestnut St., and it has been demolished for a park in the medical district. Nothing has been done to replace these beds which could have been used for work release or mental health/addiction treatment. LMDC Director Jerry Collins was not consulted about any of this. One third of our jail is now missing.
2. Louisville’s Metro jail is only 87 beds bigger than Lexington’s jail and Louisville has twice Lexington’s civilian population.
3. The Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDOC) lets convicted people with state sentences back-up in Metro jail. This has been happening since the 1980’s. Lawsuits and Court Orders have proven ineffective. There are about 125 people at LMDC waiting for a KDOC bed now. From 2013 to 2017 the average was about 300 !
4. Admissions to Metro jail are about 17,000 per year. In 2010 there were over 45,000; in 2015 there were over 30,000 admissions. The jail population is staying up because people are staying longer. What happens as arrests go up?
5. Staff shortages at the jail seem to be permanent. In April 2023 a major investigation focused on staff shortage. The current Metro Louisville Budget shows over $7 million for “Overtime” at the jail. Staff shortage makes jail deaths more likely and Correctional Officers working double shifts can make more mistakes.
6. Lack of transparent and accessible public reporting. Including health care costs, Metro jail’s current budget is $79 million per year. For the past ten years, the public has gotten a one page “Fact Sheet” summary that serves as an Annual Report. The daily population report site has been down for almost 3 months. Much of the data collected is for internal use and is not helpful for making future plans. We could do a lot better here.
7. From 2017 to 2022 there were 46 deaths of people on Metro jail’s Home Incarceration Program (electronic monitoring). Jail Policy Committee reports have noted that as many as 93 people per month return to the main jail population because of housing issues.
8. Substantial numbers of people (about 50) in Metro jail are waiting there for mental health evaluation.
9. People sentenced to 5 years or less leave Metro jail to serve in a county jail. There are no reports about how many or where they go or what happens when they get there. Many of them work on county work crews for pennies on the minimum wage dollar.
10. About half of the 18,700 occupied county jail beds in Kentucky are rented out to federal (2055) or state (7030) prisoners. About one third of Kentucky’s 74 county jails are at 120% or more overcrowded. Metro jail cannot force jails or KDOC to take backlogged prisoners. Metro jail population is only 7% of Kentucky’s total county jail population–not big enough to demand help from beyond the county line.
11. The “Safer Kentucky Act” passed this year increased sentences for 34 different crimes, limited community bail capacity and made war on homeless people. The price tag for this is about $100 million per year but the legislature allocated no funds.
12. Louisville’s jail is the only lock-up in Kentucky where the population is over 50% Black. Poverty is a central issue. Wealth gap correlates with prison populations.
13. Metro Council is working with CGL Corporation to study our jail issues. The most likely outcome could be a recommendation to build a big new jail. A major commissioned study about adding community treatment options (medical, addiction, mental health, diversion, homelessness, post release support) never seems to happen.
Metro Council is leaving the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on the railroad track and an oncoming train is gaining speed. “Crisis Management” is not the same thing as management! We should not wait for more deaths, federal intervention and Consent Decree supervision by a federal Judge. What we are doing is resulting in a 70% recidivism rate. We can do better than expecting a jail to solve all our problems.
Kyle Ellison
Louisville
Further Reading:
Charts showing KDOC backup in LMDC from 2013 to 2021
https://louisvilleky.gov/criminal-justice-commission/document/jail-policy-committee-meeting-packet-january-25-2022
KDOC Weekly Jail Count Sheet
https://corrections.ky.gov/public-information/researchandstats/Documents/Weekly%20Jail/2024/12-05-24.pdf
HB5-Safer Kentucky Act –Article in Kentucky LanternExecutive Summary:
https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/06/18/emotion-not-evidence-fuels-rush-to-lock-up-even-more-kentuckians/
ACLU site with the entire piece
https://www.google.com/search?q=aclu+the+process+and+results+of+passing+hb5&oq=aclu&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBggDECMYJzIGCAAQRRg8MgwIARBFGDkYsQMYgAQyCAgCEEUYJxg7MgYIAxAjGCcyFggEEC4YrwEYxwEYkQIYgAQYigUYjgUyBggFEEUYPTIGCAYQRRg8MgYIBxBFGDzSAQg1MjQ2ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Home Incarceration Deaths
https://www.lpm.org/investigate/2022-06-16/louisvillians-are-dying-under-house-arrest
April 2023 Investigation of LMDC Jail Deaths
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/metro-government/2023/03/22/david-beyer-louisville-metro-corrections-report-calls-for-new-jail-dings-past-leadership/70037881007/
https://louisvilleky.gov/metro-council-district-14/document/lmdc-report-2023
LMDC Annual Reports 2013-2023 –Fact Sheets–one pagehttps://louisvilleky.gov/government/corrections/fact-sheet
LMDC Poppulation Dashboard–last entry in Sep 2024
https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiOWY2NjczNjctYjgzNC00Zjg2LTk1MWItNzAzOTBhMGM4ZTRiIiwidCI6IjRmOTg2MTliLTIwMmQtNDEzZi04Y2NmLTM2MWQ1NzIxM2JjZCIsImMiOjF9
Jail Policy Committee – Summary of Sept 22, 2024 meeting
https://louisvilleky.gov/criminal-justice-commission/document/92424-jail-policy-meeting-summary
https://louisvilleky.gov/government/criminal-justice-commission/jail-policy-committee
Thank you for filling in the blanks on the issue of jails.
We Agree On the Basics But Not Delivery
Ms. Rucker,
I’m usually a big fan of your work and LEO in general, but your last two articles on healthcare and the CEO assassination seem off. While some have responded with indifference or even glee to the killing, I think the response of most people (at least outside of the internet echo chamber) is empathy for the victim and his family. I think most people reject this kind of behavior and anyone who aligns themselves with it, including those using it to push a political agenda–even an agenda they otherwise would be inclined to support. I think talk about healthcare now drives people away and makes good reform less likely. So, please do keep talking about this important issue and use your platform to talk about the victims of this system; but give it a little bit of a rest and leave out the stuff about the assassination.
Tim Harper
I’ll leave our exchange where it happened but even if we don’t agree on the way an agenda is approached, we do agree that the topic of healthcare is VERY important and it is one that Americans needs to keep pushing for.
Coffee Shop Shenanigans
So I read your piece where you all but visited my being trans on me.
I used to love Harry Potter(I’m a Slytherin), but if you even go on Jk’s page it’s crazy. She’s literally transphobic/homophobic af. My feelings were hurt just getting on her page and reading what she thought. I vowed then not to ever buy anything else Harry Potter or to ever support her work. I’m not shocked that this theme is popular, but I am shocked to see that someone who is on the same internet I use and familiar with the same pop culture I am would dare be surprised by the reaction. I’m also not surprised that a black femme would have a HP party because as a black transwoman not even a trans person(trans men are excluded from the uproar of trans), that we don’t have the support of other black ppl. I have marched fought, argued, yelled got shut down over Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner not for my safety but for the unison and solidarity of my ppl. But most black ppl (including the ppl I championed for) would not lose any sleep if something bad happened to me. If I sat down and told u of all the bad experiences I have had as a black trans femme, mostly from other black ppl especially femmes spanning to and not limited to police interactions it would take days. A lot of ppl claim to be allies but do things and convince me that things that are literally offensive to me aren’t that bad(like Dave Chappell, the bathroom laws, comedic transphobia, etc). This is one. It’s super annoying being gaslighted into “oh this isn’t that bad” or “you’re being too sensitive”. To me, it’s no different than a white person who claims they have black friends but love Trump.
Do you still listen to R Kelly or Diddy? Like are you able to separate the songs from the person? If you knowingly know something is fucked up(Like how you explained the lunch counters and yadda yadda) then don’t support it. If JK Rowling had made remarks about black men being thugs or black women being single mothers. I guarantee even you would not be interested in Harry Potter themed parties, you would be just as turned off. Also, no I didn’t avoid her coffee shop to go to Starbucks instead. I’m sure if you read this it would be to get on the attack of me or my feelings. I just think it’s sad that I’m supposed to blindly support black ppl because I’m black but those I’m expected to support do not even support me. I typically don’t do this but your article spoke to me. You have a voice and a responsibility for those who don’t have the platform you do.
Respectfully,
A concerned 30something Lady.
I would never use anyone’s being Trans as a means of attack. I am not JK Rowlling. I despise any thinking that falls in line with that, and I do love my friends who are in the Trans community and the LGBTQ+ community. They’ve always been an important part of my life, and for some of them, this book series means a lot… in spite of its author. I hope that folks take the energy spent on this local shop and put it in the face of Republicans trying to pass bills to hurt the Trans community.
This article appears in Dec 18, 2024 – Jan 16, 2025.
