Call to Order and Roll Call
The 4th meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary was held on Friday, September 23, 2016, at 10:00 AM, in Room 171 of the Capitol Annex. Senator Whitney Westerfield, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Whitney Westerfield, Co-Chair; Representative Darryl T. Owens, Co-Chair; Senators Danny Carroll, Carroll Gibson, Ray S. Jones II, Alice Forgy Kerr, and Dan "Malano" Seum; Representatives Joseph M. Fischer, Jim Gooch Jr., Chris Harris, Mary Lou Marzian, Reginald Meeks, Lewis Nicholls, Tom Riner, and Brent Yonts.
Guests: Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr.; and Lee Rust, Founder and CEO of Freedom Forever Ministries.
LRC Staff: Katie Comstock, Alice Lyon, Matt Trebelhorn, Elishea Schweickart, and Brad Gordon.
State of the Judiciary
Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton, who was elected for his third term this past June, presented the State of the Judiciary address. Chief Justice Minton thanked legislators for passing the Judicial Branch budget for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 and thanked Governor Bevin for his crucial veto of funds transfer language that provided much needed relief to the court system. Through the hard work of Kentucky’s legislators, Kentucky’s court system received the healthiest budget it has seen in the last 10 years. Chief Justice Minton thanked the Senate for inviting him to testify before the Appropriations and Revenue Committee during the 2016 regular session. He praised Kentucky judges, circuit court clerks, court employees, law enforcement agencies, and community agencies for their decisive and expert work.
Chief Justice Minton said that, after 2016 House Bill 40 passed, allowing expungement for certain class D felonies, the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) made sure it had its resources, website information, legal forms, and eFiling system current for the effective date in July. This included working with the Governor’s Office, the Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and other criminal justice partners. AOC also helped provide training on implementing the law to Kentucky judges and circuit court clerks. So far in 2016, AOC has received 8,400 expungement request for misdemeanor and felony convictions. The turnaround time by the AOC Records Unit for expungements is less than 48 hours.
Chief Justice Minton discussed Senate Bill 200, which brought juvenile justice reform to Kentucky, stating that evidence shows that the reform is working as it was intended. The Family Accountability, Intervention, and Response (FAIR) Teams, who work with court designated workers on mending service gaps and coordinate access to services for juveniles and families, are a big key to its success. As of the end of August 2016, FAIR Teams had reviewed 2,507 cases. Of the cases that have been reviewed and closed, 46 percent were resolved outside of court and 54 percent were referred to the courts. Twenty-nine percent of cases referred to the FAIR Teams continue to progress through reviews and the diversion program. AOC is making it a priority to address the needs of minorities, and it is using the GAIN-Q3 assessment tool to more accurately identify the needs of youth in diversion programs. In October 2016, the Supreme Court will adopt the final version of the new Juvenile Court Rules Procedure and Practice.
The Judicial Branch played a major role in implementing Senate Bill 133, which is designed to reduce drunken driving by using ignition interlock devices. Chief Justice Minton noted that, in 2015, Kentucky district judges handled 26,000 cases involving people driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. AOC has worked diligently with Kentucky judges and circuit court clerks since the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet finalized regulations, and the Supreme Court established a sliding scale of indigency to help determine device cost to defendants. AOC received a grant from the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety to provide SB 133 education at the annual District Judges College, which took place in September 2016. AOC continues to work with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to improve the ignition interlock process.
On January 1, 2016, House Bill 8, which extends civil protection to victims of dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, went into effect. AOC has carried out its responsibilities under that bill. Legal forms and protective order forms have been revised, and the Kentucky State Police online Law Enforcement Information Network in Kentucky (LINK) has been updated. Judges, clerks, and deputy clerks have also been trained on these changes. Also, a brochure that explains the protective order process to the public is available at local circuit clerk offices as well as on the Kentucky Court of Justice website. Since the bill went into effect, there have been roughly 70 cases filed statewide each month.
In 2014, the Judicial Branch budget bill required the AOC to develop a weighted caseload system to measure judicial caseloads across Kentucky for the purpose of judicial redistricting, and Chief Justice Minton noted that the AOC has made great progress in this area. Because of the high-quality workload analysis that was needed to complete this task, AOC sought help from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). This process started by asking all circuit, district, and family judges to take part in a time study, which logged the time handling judicial duties outside of the court. There was 95 percent participation in this study among Kentucky’s judges. This data was then used by NCSC to compile a time study report that included case weights and measured workloads. A Judicial Workload Assessment Committee (JWAC), made up of judges, circuit court clerks, prosecutors, and legislators, was also created to work closely with NCSC. After the time study was complete, NCSC staff met with judges on site visits in numerous jurisdictions to identify the challenges they face with each case type. The JWAC members met in November 2015 to examine results from all phases of the assessment, and the NCSC drafted a preliminary report that was extensively vetted before being presented to the legislature in February 2016. Since February, additional subcommittees have been created to work further on improving the plan. The comprehensive judicial redistricting plan will be presented to the General Assembly in 2017.
Chief Justice Minton said that AOC is making great strides to work on KYeCourts and overhaul Kentucky’s court technology. As of October 2015, eFiling is available in all 120 Kentucky counties, which gives Kentucky attorneys the option to file criminal and civil court documents online. This is a large step toward the goal of a paperless court system. Development teams are expanding eFiling to other case types, which include juvenile cases, forcible detainer, probate, and appeals. Teams are also working to extend eFiling to non-attorney government filers. In January 2017, AOC will begin piloting an electronic court records project in Trimble County.
The AOC is in the initial stage of courthouse construction projects for Henry and Nicholas counties, as well as limited-scope repair projects in Mason and Simpson counties. When possible, AOC plans to renovate and preserve Kentucky court facilities instead of engaging in new construction. Chief Justice Minton stated that this was a significant departure from AOC’s current capital construction program as most priority facilities are in smaller counties with limited population growth.
Chief Justice Minton asked the committee to keep in mind that, although budget requests will not be addressed again until 2018, salaries for Kentucky judges need improvement. The request for a salary increase in 2016’s judicial budget was denied, leaving Kentucky judges among the lowest paid in the country. Since 2007, Kentucky judges have only received two years of one percent raises and two years of $400 raises. This lack of progress leaves current judges feeling undervalued and provides little incentive for gaining new judges. Chief Justice Minton stated that he looks forward to addressing the pay issue with the legislature further.
Chief Justice Minton stated that he wanted to go on record with the court system’s commitment to partner with the legislature, law enforcement, executive branch, treatment providers, and other agencies that are instrumental in combating the opioid-addiction epidemic. The Judicial Branch is ready to help in any way during this drug crisis. Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia are among the top five states in the nation in per capita opioid overdose deaths.
Responding to a question from Representative Nicholls, Chief Justice Minton stated that that AOC plans to hold an educational seminar in January for all judges with the latest information pertaining to overseeing drug cases and family issues that can stem from them.
Responding to a question from Representative Yonts, Chief Justice Minton said that approximately 45 standalone judicial centers are needed in Kentucky.
Responding to a follow up question from Representative Yonts, Chief Justice Minton stated that he believes that the low pay for judges, and lack of raises, does hinder the efforts of the court system to get the best attorneys to take the bench. Kentucky needs diversity on the bench.
Responding to a question from Representative Fischer, Chief Justice Minton stated that he believes the legislature will get an up or down vote on the judicial redistricting plan that will be presented in January 2017.
Responding to a question from Representative Harris, Chief Justice Minton stated that online security is a big concern for the AOC, which has entered into a number of online security contracts and purchased online detection equipment systems.
Responding to a question from Senator Carroll, Chief Justice Minton stated that the pro se litigant function is coming soon to the eCourts systems.
Responding to a question from Representative Yonts, Chief Justice Minton state that eFiling is optional.
Women is Prison
Lee Rust, founder and CEO of Freedom Forever Ministries, discussed issues related to female prisoners face and the program she runs. Ms. Rust has been working with female prisoners for 17 years, which includes multiple visits each week.
Ms. Rust stated that, years ago, she drafted a survey for these prisoners to get information because there is a lack of attention given to this target group. The survey revealed that the average age of female prisoners is 37, and their average ethnicity is Caucasian. The survey showed that, despite the female prisoners being non-violent offenders, they are likely to be incarcerated for about the same length of time for a violent male violent offender.
Ms. Rust discussed a concern with overmedication of female offenders. The cost to house a female prisoner is about $70 per day. Of this cost, about 75 percent is for medications that female prisoners are often prescribed. Not only is this harmful to these women while they are incarcerated, but upon release, they are only given about two weeks’ worth of medication, which often leads to self-medication through heroin use once they run out. Many of these prescribed drugs are psychotropic drugs; Ms. Rust stated that there are better alternatives to medications, such as journaling, drama, music, and a safe zone to have alone time.
Ms. Rust spoke briefly about how these women’s families are affected by their incarceration. Sixty-eight percent of women in prison were effectively sole parents of their children before they were incarcerated. Because of the extended periods of time these women are incarcerated, the high cost to care for their children is often paid for by the state. This is about $45,000 per child per year for foster care. Not only is this costly for Kentucky, but often foster care can be extremely hard for these children. Also, there is a 68 percent recidivism rate for these women, which can further affect their families and increase to the state.
Ms. Rust discussed Freedom Forever Ministries’ program called “Good Grief,” which is a 10 week program that helps female prisoners understand and cope with the stages of grief. This could pertain to many situations, including loss of freedom, loss of a job, being away from their families, and deaths. Many women have had success with this program while incarcerated and after release.
Responding to a question from Senator Jones, Ms. Rust stated that she believed there are some women who do need to be medicated. She believes that over-medicating is a very large problem in Kentucky prisons.
Responding to a question from Senator Carroll, Ms. Rust said that she believed that many times medication is used to control the women’s prison population.
John Tilley, Secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, said that the Department of Corrections (DOC) agrees that the pharmaceutical contracts need revision. He agreed the Kentucky’s prison system is overwhelmed with the number of women prisoners, that there are cases of women being overmedicated, and that there are cases of women being imprisoned for abnormal long amounts of time for non-violent offenses. He believes this is an epidemic. Secretary Tilley said that a vast majority of women should be released from prison and that they need mental health help and drug treatment. The DOC appreciates the help it receives with these goals from various non-profit programs. Information such as population statistics and cost is readily available through an open records request to DOC.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:46 AM.