Kentucky Jailers meet, discuss issues in corrections

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – County jailers met Monday at a conference where they discussed statewide issues in corrections.

The Kentucky Jailer’s Association is meeting this week at the Sloan Convention Center for the summer conference.

Jailers from all over the state are in town working together to better Kentucky’s jails.

“The Kentucky Jailers Association was established in 1982, so it’s been an ongoing summer conference,” said Kentucky Jailer’s Association Vice President Mike Simpson.

The conference allows the jailers the opportunity to discuss issues and solutions with each other.

“We are making sure that everyone is up to date on the basic requirements and making sure if there is any problems, we talk about it here,” Simpson said.

An issue that is facing most jails in the state is overcrowding.

“There’s not a jail here that I believe is not overcrowded or has been recently,” Warren County Jailer Stephen Harmon said.

Jails need more funding to provide for inmates but are doing the best they can with what they have.

“Unfortunately, in every correctional facility across the state there’s people housed on the floor, and they are given two mats and that meets the state’s standard but certainly we all want to work towards increasing the amount of beds that we have,” Harmon said.

The Warren County Jail also offers re-entry preparedness offering multiple options for inmates in an effort to reduce recidivism.

“We’ve started several programs: anger management, parenting, MRT, several programs that work to decrease the amount of recidivism, people that are re-offending,” said Simpson.

Many jails across the state of Kentucky offer multiple programs.

“We have GED programs, we have life skills programs, we have AA meetings,” said Simpson.

Another local jail offers work release programs that are benefiting the community.

“I actually have about 32 state inmates that are actually working in the public sector that are making a living wage. We have collected $20,000 dollars in child support restitution,” Simpson County Jailer Eric Vaughn said.

The jailers say the goal of the programs is to turn tax-burdens into taxpayers.

The state Jailer’s Association holds two meetings per year.