Kentucky Juvenile Justice Commissioner to resign after two years of controversy
Kentucky Juvenile Justice Commissioner Vicki Reed, who has been criticized for assaults, escapes, riots and the abuse and neglect of youths at juvenile detention centers under her watch, will resign effective Jan. 1, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.
“We appreciate all of her efforts in pushing through pre-existing challenges and helping us make some of the most significant changes since the creation of the (Department of Juvenile Justice),” Beshear said at a Capitol news conference.
“I know it hasn’t been easy for Vicki Reed to push through,” the governor said. “But every day, she’s shown up and tried to do her best, and I’m grateful for that.”
The embattled Department of Juvenile Justice has churned through five different commissioners in the past seven years.
Beshear appointed Reed in 2021. Members of the General Assembly called for her resignation earlier this year because of safety and health problems at the juvenile detention centers that lawmakers said were not being adequately addressed.
Perhaps most significant, a riot at the juvenile detention center in Adair County a year ago led to the rape of a girl housed at the facility. State and local police were needed to restore order.
Although Reed kept her job at that time, the legislature passed a package of reforms that included money for pay raises at the juvenile detention centers, better mental health services for youths housed in them and the reopening of a detention center in Louisville to relieve the stress at other facilities around the state.
In recent months, lawmakers and others have continued to criticize the Department of Juvenile Justice for improperly locking youths in isolation because of under-staffing, for misuse of pepper spray by angry corrections officers and for an alleged sexual misconduct incident involving a male corrections officer and a girl in Campbell County which was not acted on for weeks by agency officials.
Prior to being named as commissioner, Reed had spent much of her career in the field of juvenile justice, as a state official and as a juvenile advocate in the nonprofit sector. She is a Lexington native.
This story was originally published November 16, 2023 at 2:04 PM.
