Title XVII, Economic Security and Public Welfare

The primary objectives of the department shall be to maintain public safety and hold offenders accountable while reducing recidivism and criminal behavior and improving outcomes for offenders under its supervision. The department shall create and implement policies and programs t…

The secretary shall, except as otherwise provided in KRS 439.250 to 439.560 and KRS Chapter 13A, have the power and authority to promulgate administrative regulations he or she deems necessary or suitable for the proper administration of the functions of the cabinet or any divisi…

(1) All personnel of the department, while acting for the department in any capacity entailing the maintenance of custody over any prisoners, shall have all the authority and powers of peace officers. (2) All department personnel who are officially requested by a law enforcement …

Dedicated use of funds. (1) The criminal justice reinvestment fund is created as a trust fund. The trust fund shall consist of funds deposited pursuant to KRS 196.044 and shall be appropriated for the purposes set forth in subsection (3) of this section. The department shall admi…

158 -- Deposit in criminal justice reinvestment fund. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Cost savings" means the ending balance excluding any necessary government expenses as identified in an enacted appropriations bill and any agency transfers that occurred in the same fiscal yea…

offenders. (1) The Department of Corrections shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to implement a simplified process for the restoration of civil rights to eligible felony offenders. As part of this simplified process, the Department of Co…

proceedings against inmate. (1) The department shall operate a forensic psychiatric facility to provide mental health care for persons convicted of a crime who are committed to the department. This care shall be provided by the department for the duration of the person's sentence…

programs. (1) The commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall: (a) Supervise and administer correctional institutions established and operated by the department, or any divisions of those institutions, the private prisons as provided by KRS 197.500, and the prison industr…

convicted offenders under federal treaty. If a treaty in effect between the United States and a foreign country provides for the transfer or exchange of convicted offenders to the country of which they are citizens or nationals, the Governor may, on behalf of the state and subjec…

The department, under the direction of the commissioner, shall exercise the functions vested in the department relating to probation and parole. The commissioner shall promulgate administrative regulations governing parolees and shall have the same powers of arrest as probation a…

The department shall establish a probation and parole officer salary improvement program consisting of the following elements: (1) Probation and parole officer I with less than five (5) years of service shall receive no salary improvement. (2) Probation and parole officer II with…

negotiations and sentencing. The department shall develop an online system based on state statistics of actual offenders to provide courts, attorneys, probation and parole officers, and victims with objective information for use in plea negotiations and sentencing. The system sha…

history record information system. (1) The Department of Corrections shall, in cooperation with the Department of Kentucky State Police, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and the Administrative Office of the Courts, be responsible for…

of information from certain levels. The Department of Corrections shall update their own database within thirty (30) days of receipt of information. The update shall include information from the: (1) Offender level; (2) Institutional level; and (3) Informational and evaluational …

The department shall maintain a photographic record of each inmate committed to its custody, regardless of where that inmate is housed, and shall update that record once every two (2) years. The photographic record may be taken and stored digitally.

of inmates. The department shall: (1) Study the sources and causes of crime, delinquency, and dependency and suggest and put into effect remedial measures in the prevention and ultimate eradication of antisocial acts and conditions; and (2) Encourage the employment of the inmates…

programs -- Standards -- Funding restrictions. (1) As used in this section, "evidence-based practices" means supervision policies, procedures, treatment and intervention programs, and practices that scientific research demonstrates reduce recidivism among inmates and individuals …

(1) The Department of Corrections may lease or purchase farm lands, improved or unimproved, for the employment of the inmates of the institutions under its supervision. The Department of Corrections may prescribe administrative regulations for the support and maintenance of priso…

The University of Kentucky shall, at the request of the Department of Corrections, examine and report on any land which the Department of Corrections wishes to investigate with a view to purchase or lease, so that the Department of Corrections may be fully advised as to the quali…

If the state proposes to acquire, construct, alter, or lease any land or structure to be used as a penal institution or correctional facility, and the proposed use is contrary to or inconsistent with local planning regulations or local comprehensive plans, the commissioner shall …

When it is necessary for the department to own real estate for its use and it is unable to acquire the property by purchase, the department may condemn the real estate for its use and purposes in the manner set forth in the Eminent Domain Act of Kentucky.

The Department of Corrections may accept money from the federal government, or any of its agencies, under any grant agreement entered into by the State of Kentucky or the Department of Corrections. The money may be expended for capital outlay in accordance with the provisions of …

requirements -- Contributions to hazardous duty retirement program -- Career retention program. (1) The commissioner shall appoint a warden, a receiver, and other necessary employees for each of the state penal and correctional institutions. The compensation of these officers and…

(1) The commissioner of the Department of Corrections may, with the approval of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, purchase liability insurance for the protection of health care professionals employed by or serving the department to protect them from liability for acts, omis…

education from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System to the department -- Employee benefits. (1) Effective July 1, 2010, faculty and staff of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System who: (a) Are engaged in providing educational services and support to in…

(1) The Department of Corrections shall develop an educational course on the human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome approved by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services of not more than four (4) hours for the instruction of corrections per…

detention facility, residential center, or reentry center -- Permissible and impermissible restraints. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an inmate housed in a jail, penitentiary, or local or state correctional or detention facility, residential center, or …

period -- Definition. (1) No inmate housed in a jail, penitentiary, or local or state correctional or detention facility, residential center, or reentry center who is known to be pregnant or in the immediate postpartum period shall be placed in restrictive housing, in administrat…

to discuss options for care, feeding, and placement of infant -- Inmate's access to telephone -- Facility to provide nutrition and hygiene-related products for care of infant free of charge to indigent inmate. For any inmate housed in a jail, penitentiary, or local or state corre…

Commission and Judiciary Committee -- Report to be published on Legislative Research Commission's Web site. (1) The department shall provide an annual restricted housing report to the Legislative Research Commission and the Judiciary Committee by January 31. The report shall incl…

disciplinary reports. (1) The warden shall have the general management of the institution, and the inmates thereof, subject to the administrative regulations of the Department of Corrections, and he or she shall devote his or her entire time to the duties of his or her office. (2…

The receiver shall receive all goods and supplies purchased for the institution, take charge of them, see that they correspond with the bills accompanying them, in character, quality, and quantity, and distribute them to each department of the institution as the warden directs by…

for merit. (1) No advisory member of the board shall recommend or urge that any person shall be employed in any institution. (2) All officers and employees of the Department of Corrections shall be selected for merit and fitness only and, with the exception of persons employed fo…

No officer or employee of any institution shall be required to give personal attendance as a witness in any civil suit out of the county in which the institution is situated, but his deposition shall be taken in lieu thereof.

forbidden. (1) No officer in the department shall sell anything to any institution under the control of the Department of Corrections, or make any contract, in which he is interested, with the institution. (2) Officers and employees shall not be entitled to receive any compensati…

The commissioner may permit or prohibit the practice of smoking by the inmates of the penal institutions, regardless of the age of the inmates, when he believes the regulation will enhance or improve the discipline of the inmates of these institutions.

There shall be established and maintained within the Department of Corrections a centralized canteen operation which shall be incorporated and self-supporting. Each institution administered by the department and each institution which operates under a contract between the state a…

offenders, regional jail, or county jail -- Escape. (1) (a) The Department of Corrections shall provide or contract with a private entity to provide to members of the public who have made a notification request, notification of the release of an incarcerated person from a peniten…

certificate of employability -- Eligibility, contents, and revocation. (1) When a prisoner is released, the department shall issue to that prisoner, with the prisoner's consent, documents regarding all of the following: (a) The prisoner's criminal history in Kentucky; (b) The pri…

As part of a life skills program that includes curriculum on employment provided to prisoners, the department shall assist prisoners in preparing and writing resumés summarizing their past employment and skills. The department shall assist prisoners in obtaining records or other …

(1) The department shall develop an intensive secured substance abuse recovery program utilizing existing resources or by contract to house and care for persons suffering from substance abuse who have been charged with a felony offense. (2) The program shall accept persons referr…

secs. 5 to 22 -- Average cost of incarceration -- Savings to benefit treatment programs -- Budget requests and enactments. (1) The department shall measure and document cost savings resulting from amendments to or creation of statutes in KRS Chapter 218A contained in 2011 Ky. Act…

treatment programs in existing state penal institutions. The department shall use a portion of the savings identified in KRS 196.286 to expand treatment programs at its existing state penal institutions, including the expansion or creation of treatment programs at facilities that…

Beginning in fiscal year 2026-2027, the following amounts shall be allocated or distributed by the secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet: (1) Four million six hundred thirty thousand two hundred dollars ($4,630,200) shall be distributed to the local corrections assis…

The Interstate Corrections Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into by this state with any other states legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows: INTERSTATE CORRECTIONS COMPACT ARTICLE I Purpose and Policy The party states, desiring by common action…

(1) The commissioner of the Department of Corrections is hereby authorized and directed to do all things necessary or incidental to the carrying out of the compact in every particular and he may in his discretion delegate this authority. (2) KRS 196.610 may be cited as the Inters…