Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has designated a juvenile detention center in Newport as the sole facility for girls in the state following riots at centers in Adair and Warren counties.
Beshear has also designated juvenile detention centers in Adair, Warren and Fayette counties as high-security facilities for violent, youthful male offenders.
The governor’s switch-ups, to be implemented by January, follow a riot at Adair Regional Detention Center in Columbia that injured young people and staff on Nov. 11 and a riot at Warren Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Bowling Green that caused property damage in August.
“Our policies and laws that govern juvenile justice were created over 20 years ago. It is time positive changes are made to better respond to today’s needs,” Beshear said in a news release.
