Structural problems force closure of regional juvenile jail

Worsening structural problems forced the closure of the Laurel Regional Juvenile Detention Center last week, and local officials say the move could be a devastating blow to county and city budgets.
John Hodgkin, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, said officials decided to close the 41-bed facility, located in London, after persistent settling caused cracked walls, uneven floors and other problems.
“It’s big enough where we felt our boilers might be compromised and we were forced to shut those down for safety reasons,” Hodgkin said. “No boilers means no hot water and no ability to provide showers or food service for the kids. We just felt it was the best decision to make at the time.”
Hodgkin said of particular concern was a wall near the facilities boilers that had begun to bow and was damaged.
There were 31 youth housed in the detention center when the decision was made to close it last Tuesday. Those kids were taken to state-run juvenile detention centers in Adair County or Breathitt County.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said city police officers could be forced to take juvenile detainees as far away as Bowling Green if other facilities are full.
“It’s a huge issue,” Harrison said. “The biggest issue for us is we are out the expense of the officer, the overtime, the gas … the worst thing is, some shifts, we have two officers in town. In this case, if they have to transport a juvenile, we’d just have one. And what if both of them arrest a juvenile?”
Harrison said it might change the decisions officers make regarding detaining juveniles for certain crimes. Instead of transporting them to juvenile detention, citations could be issued and more could be simply released to the custody of their parents.
“It could change completely the way are doing things right now.”
Corbin Police Chief Carson Mullins said he wasn’t aware the facility had closed until a day after the decision was made. He said he didn’t get official word, but instead learned from someone at a local utility company.
Juvenile detainees from Knox, Laurel and Whitley County were housed at the facility. Any juveniles arrested, for now, will be lodged in Breathitt County’s facility. That, Mullins said, is unwelcome news for his department and many others.
“When you can transport someone 15 miles instead of 150 miles, that’s a big difference,” Mullins said. “It’s going to have a devastating effect on us, especially the way gas prices are and everything else. I think something like this will affect everybody’s decisions.”
Mullins said his department has had a couple of juvenile detainees since the center closed last week, but all of them were released to the custody of their parents. A trip to house a juvenile in detention now would be a two and a half to three-hour affair, Mullins added.
“I’m very hopeful that it gets operational soon.”
Harrison said Sheriff’s deputies have helped transport juvenile prisoners for the city of Williamsburg many times in the past. Recently budget cuts, and the increased length of the journey to a juvenile detention facility, could change that.
“They may not be able to now,” he said. “It could run into some costs that we can’t afford.”
Hodgkin called the closure temporary, but said he could not put any timetable on completion of repairs for the facility. He said engineers are currently trying to determine the extent of the problem and what can be done to fix it.
“They are trying to find out the root cause and then determine what corrective action or remediation we need to take to stabilize that so when we open it’s a permanent fix and this whole issue is not going to reoccur.”
Hodgkin could not confirm rumors speculating the center is sinking because it is built on top of an abandoned mine. He did say engineers and contractors were aware of mining activity in the area when the building was constructed.
“Until further review by engineers, we just don’t have all those answers.”
The Laurel Regional Juvenile Detention Center opened in April 2002 and cost $5.65 million to construct.
Hodgkin said some of the 41 employees are still at the center handling inventory. The rest have been reassigned to other Department of Juvenile Justice centers around the state.