Bill to reopen Louisville’s juvenile detention center moves ahead, but some voice concerns
A bill that would reopen Louisville’s juvenile detention center amid an influx of crimes committed by young people cleared its first committee hearing Wednesday in Frankfort.
House Bill 3 appropriates $8.9 million to renovate the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center, which Metro Louisville closed in 2019 amid a budget crunch. The legislation also provides operating costs for the facility once it opens.
“This bill focuses on the children who have found themselves most involved in street life and most involved in serious offending and serves as an intervention point to hopefully get them back on a positive life course,” said Josh Crawford, formerly of Louisville’s Pegasus Institute think tank and now the director of criminal justice initiatives with the Georgia Center for Opportunity..