How KY’s open records law reveals abuses inside state’s juvenile detention centers

Kentucky’s troubled juvenile detention centers don’t give tours. Their top officials usually won’t give interviews.

To learn what goes on inside these buildings, where the U.S. Justice Department recently launched a civil-rights investigation , the Herald-Leader relies on the Kentucky Open Records Act to request documents from the state Department of Juvenile Justice, which runs them.

Some of the most useful documents are reports from the Internal Investigations Branch of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

These public documents provided the foundation for our most recent investigative stories about the beleaguered department.

Investigators in this office look into allegations of abuse of juveniles in state custody. They review security video and interview witnesses — staff and youths — to decide whether the allegations can be substantiated.

When a report of abuse is substantiated, the Department of Juvenile Justice can hand down reprimands and instructions for retraining, or it can suspend employees, or it can fire them. Potential crimes can be referred to Kentucky State Police and local prosecutors for further action.

In May, after the federal investigation was announced, the Herald-Leader requested substantiated investigative reports from the state’s eight juvenile detention centers that had been finalized so far in the year 2024.

The Department of Juvenile Justice responded by producing 259 pages of reports with the youths’ names redacted, as allowed under the open records law. They covered incidents from Nov. 19, 2023, to April 17, 2024.

According to the Herald-Leader’s analysis, the reports identified 18 serious acts of misconduct involving 15 employees, including a contraband smuggling operation that led to felony charges against three employees; excessive use of force, when three officers body-slammed youths; continued misuse of pepper spray; and a “very inappropriate” relationship (in the words of a facility superintendent) between a teen boy and a female social service worker who tutored him in her private office.

Of those cases, six employees were fired, six were suspended, one resigned and two received a written reprimand, said Morgan Hall, spokeswoman for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

Juvenile Justice Commissioner Randy White, whom Gov. Andy Beshear appointed in March, declined to be interviewed by the newspaper about the incidents.

The Herald-Leader has published dozens of stories exposing problems inside the Department of Juvenile Justice over the past three years , helping to fuel calls for reform in the General Assembly, a critical state audit earlier this year and, most recently, the Justice Department’s civil-rights investigation.

“Veteran reporter John Cheves has relentlessly spearheaded our coverage of the beleaguered Department of Juvenile Justice for several years, and I’m incredibly proud of his work,” said Richard Green, executive editor of the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com.

“In a state that places such a high value on family values, our stories continue to reveal the commonwealth is not adequately protecting the teenagers in the state’s custody. John’s reporting of abuse, violence and the regular sidestepping of DJJ policies by state employees has drawn the interest of federal investigators. We will continue to do all we can to protect some of Kentucky’s most vulnerable through our investigative reporting, even as Frankfort seems to stumble in that mission.”

‘Struggling to feel safe.’ Reports reveal chaos inside KY juvenile justice facilities