Beshear’s budget adds $109 million for prisons amid push for criminal justice reform
As Kentucky faces overcrowded prisons and rising criminal justice costs due largely to the opioid epidemic, Gov. Andy Beshear proposed increasing the budget for the Department of Corrections by $109 million in the next two-year state budget.
The increasing corrections costs come as Beshear is pushing lawmakers for criminal justice reform to combat an overcrowded prison system, where inmates sleep on the floor in many jails.
Beshear has spelled out the need for criminal justice reform, saying the incarcerated population in Kentucky has risen to 24,566 — a 40 percent increase since 2004 — as the state has lost 1,269 prison beds because of deteriorating facilities.
“From a moral standpoint, criminal justice and prison reform is the right thing to do. My faith teaches me that,” Beshear said Tuesday. “But we must also change based on our current reality and on our budget. We cannot afford to continue this incarceration rate and continue to educate our children.”
Lawmakers have yet to unveil a criminal justice reform bill and Republican leaders have said they believe a bill reforming the bail system is the most likely to win approval this year. That proposal would help address overcrowding in jails but do little to reduce the state’s prison population.
Beshear’s budget proposal would provide $39.2 million to get a private prison in Southeastern Kentucky up and running. The facility, which is located in Wheelwright, will provide 656 beds. It also includes $25.1 million to make up for previous underfunding of the state’s prison system and $14.3 million for salary increases to correctional officers at prisons in Oldham and Shelby counties.
A pay raise is also proposed for Kentucky State Police officers. Beshear’s budget recommends giving state police $5.3 million for salary increases in 2021 and $8.6 million for salary increases in 2022. He also proposed allocating $3 million in both 2021 and 2022 to pay for salary increases for state police laboratory staff and to invest in new DNA technology for state police labs.
For local police officers and firefighters, Beshear proposed a $600 stipend increase through the Kentucky Law Enforcement and Firefighters Foundation Program. Beshear said 8,000 law enforcement officers and 3,800 firefighters would receive the stipend.
“State and local law enforcement are seeing fewer applications and smaller training classes,” Beshear said. “To help address this concern, we’re increasing the annual training stipend for our police and firefighters. We need these extra dollars to recruit and retain the very best.”
Beshear also included $6 million over two years to help state prosecutors hire more staff and $1.6 million over two years to support County Attorneys’ operating expenses. The state’s overburdened public defenders did not receive any additional funds.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 8:08 PM.
