FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Republican-backed proposal to make Kentucky safer is raising concerns, even among a conservative criminal justice advocacy group.
Sponsors of House Bill 5, also known as the Safer Kentucky Act, say it'll help get a handle on shootings and car jackings -- rates of which haven't come down to pre-COVID levels.
But Joey Comley, the Kentucky State Director for Right On Crime, is doubtful the bill will produce its intended results.
Comley tells WHAS11 he believes in stiff consequences for violent offenders, but he says without the proper staffing in police departments and jails, HB 5 won't effectively prevent criminal activity.
"I think until we plus up the number of police officers, until we enhance some of their training, until we add detectives, we're really never going to get ahead of crime such that we're deterring it," Comley said on March 14 after a Senate Committee passed HB 5. "We're punishing it in this bill, that's a fact. But that's about all I can say."
Right On Crime supports solutions for 'reducing crime, restoring victims, reforming offenders, and lowering taxpayer cost.' Comley is a former Army prosecutor and defense counsel, who now lives in Elizabethtown.
"You do not deter criminal activity by the threat of punishment. The threat of getting caught? Absolutely," he said.
The extensive bill focuses on increasing penalties, including a three-strikes provision and criminalization of street camping.
The questions come as one of the bill's strong supporters admits the extensive bill has some drawbacks.
Ryan Straw, Vice President of the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), has endorsed HB 5. But he also tells WHAS11 that FOP members do worry about the impact increased incarceration could have on understaffed law enforcement, particularly in jails that are already over capacity.
"Law enforcement, I think, finally feels like they're being heard," Straw said. "We keep running into repeat offenders over and over and over again."
Straw told WHAS11 the provision of the bill affecting the homeless population was 'something that was a real struggle for our membership.'
"It may put our officers in a position where we have to do a lot more work, where we're really not going to get the best outcome that we're looking for," Straw said.
An amended version of the Safer Kentucky Act is destined to become law, now one House vote away from heading to Governor Andy Beshear's desk. It's a move that could happen as early as this Thursday.
At an unrelated event, Beshear was asked whether he'd sign the legislation if it comes across his desk. The Governor said he hasn't seen the most recent version of the bill, but told reporters there's one aspect of it that's raising questions for him.
"We expect if House Bill 5 becomes law, there's going to be a significant increase in corrections costs. Our budget does not include those. There's an actual limitation for what overruns can be without calling a special session of the General Assembly," Beshear said. "So, if they're going to ask the executive branch to house more inmates, they're gonna need to provide the funding to do it."
Both Comley and Straw believe even if House Bill 5 becomes law, this will not be its final form. They predict some substantial tweaks in the years to come.
If true, state lawmakers potentially could be looking at more time, and resources, spent on further amending the bill in future legislative sessions.
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