LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC) is outlining plans to make the facility safer before the year ends.
It comes after another inmate died earlier this week, and the ACLU of Kentucky called for an end to the jail's healthcare contract.
At an news conference Friday afternoon, LMDC officials said they're working to alter up to 40 cells right now to prevent inmate suicide attempts. They've also filled dozens of open staffing positions, with vacancies down from the triple digits to around 90.
LMDC Director Jerry Collins admitted there is still plenty more that needs to be changed, amid what city leaders have called 'a state of crisis' inside the jail.
"Addiction with the fentanyl crisis, with the mental health crisis, it's skyrocketing across the country and we gotta change the way we do things," Collins said.
It's been just over six months since Collins took the reigns to lead LMDC. In that period, Collins said there have been 175 'suicide interventions.'
Between more drugs slipping into the facility, and a building jail leaders have said doesn't bode well for mental health, the obstacles are obvious.
"There should be a divide that is an educational space or a programming space that isn't right next to where your toilet or your bed is," said Mariya Leyderman, LMDC's executive chief psychologist hired in April.
Leyderman said they're improving dorm layouts and getting certain people out who don't need to be there.
"Folks end up in the jail system who don't belong here, but there isn't really a process for where they can go," Leyderman said. "[We need] more of a classification process essentially, for those specific needs."
Meanwhile, Collins said they have a list of safety upgrades in the works including bringing on a full-time detox nurse and better assessing mental health needs from the moment someone is booked. Collins said incarcerated people are screened immediately when they come in, and then there's a follow-up within 14 days.
It all comes as the ACLU calls for the city to end its contract with Wellpath, the jail's healthcare provider, which is up in July.
"We're evaluating what we're going to ask for, whether it be Wellpath or anyone else who comes in," Collins said.
When WHAS11 asked whether Collins would consider another provider, he responded: "My goal is to have the best provider that we possibly can, no matter who it is. We want the best care."
Collins said the landscape of how to successfully and safely run a jail is changing, but he's confident these new measures will make a difference within Louisville.
As far as staffing, Collins said they're bringing back more retirees Monday. He added they have a class of about 40 academy graduates and lateral transfers set to start by the end of the month.
12 inmates have died inside Metro Corrections since Nov. 2021.
Earlier this week, a report from a city-funded investigation into the facility called the building 'poorly designed,' saying it's contributed to 'poor practices' by staff.
The report from a separate investigation into jail practices, funded through Metro Councilmembers, is expected to be released in November -- according to Council President David James.
James said they should have a verbal update during their next Government Accountability and Ethics Committee meeting.
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