LYNDON, Ky. — A string of serious incidents have occurred at the Jefferson County Regional Juvenile Detention Center recently in Lyndon, all happening within weeks of each other.
This has state lawmakers asking hard questions.
"On July 31 there was a riot, on August the 14 youth jumped a staff member, on August 17 a brawl took place between 14 youths, [on] August 27 multiple fires were set by that same female with her lighter that was still not retrieved," Rep. Jason Nemes (R-33) said.
On Thursday, Oct. 13, those in charge had to answer for them.
Those at the top blame staffing issues. The state said being short-staffed is particularly difficult at this facility. The state's plan is to raise pay to attract hires, but so far there hasn't been many takers.
"We continually look for places, and you know colleges we've worked with and so forth, but honestly so far it's been a lot of effort with very little return," Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Vicki Reed said.
Still, lawmakers argue more needs to be done now.
Michael Ross, former detention center supervisor, said he blew the whistle years ago.
"You can't run the 24 hour facility with 4 youth workers...if you've got 37 kids, but you only got 33," Ross said.
Boys and girls are sharing rooms, and that's not against the law in Kentucky, but the state doesn't allow them to have sex.
"You say the law allows that, it ought not, I have reports from employees that these kids are having sex with one another, these young people are in danger, and it is on all of us, especially you, to get this thing resolved," Nemes said.
Although the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet claims that it's been reducing the number of kids at the center, Nemes said he hasn't seen any proof of that.
Tune into next week's FOCUS. It will have a deeper dive into what's going on at the center.
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Contact reporter John Charlton at jcharlton@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@JCharltonNews) and Facebook.