music >> When I took over and took office, you know, I looked at these beds as commodities.

>> The effort to put more immigrants in federal detention comes to Kentucky's county jails.

And with a paycheck.

[MUSIC] Get ready.

About a million Kentuckians are set to pay more to keep the lights on.

[MUSIC] >> The word is out, and they're excited that we are there and coming to their community.

>> And the Louisville Orchestra is hitting the road again.

We'll tell you, if they're playing in a town near you.

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Tuesday, February the 17th, I'm Renee Shaw.

We thank you for spending some of your Tuesday night with us.

Many Kentucky law enforcement and corrections agencies are collaborating with federal immigration enforcement.

A key way that's bringing in millions of federal dollars is housing Ice inmates in local jails.

In fact, there are 900 more immigration inmates in Kentucky county jails today than there were just a year ago.

Our June Leffler spoke with jail officials in Northern Kentucky on why they're renting beds to Ice.

>> Kenton County Detention Center can hold about 600 men and women here.

They sleep, exercise and fight their cases.

The jail recently added more video conferencing booths specifically for Ice inmates to contact their lawyers.

Some areas of the jail function as virtual courtrooms.

A judge will appear on the screen.

Inmates could stay at this jail for the entire length of their immigration case.

Terry Robinson manages inmates and staff at the county jail.

>> I've seen some people stay here two days.

I've seen some people stay here three months.

It just depends on if they decide to fight their case.

It is a lengthy process.

There's several court hearings that they'll have to attend.

If they voluntarily deport, then it's usually within 1 to 2 weeks.

They're out of custody.

>> Ice arrested 32% more people in Kentucky in 2020 than it had the year before, according to an analysis from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

Three quarters of those people were first arrested by local police for alleged crimes, but were then picked up by Ice at the jail.

>> They complete their county charges here.

They will go to court.

They will either get sentenced, released, whatever the case may be, and then once they've completed that case, we notify immigration and they then turn them over into immigration custody.

>> But Kentucky's county jails are also holding people Ice arrests elsewhere.

>> Which means they're coming from Chicago or wherever they are arrested and detained and then moved into our facility.

And we don't know why.

They became in contact with Ice and were detained.

We just are housing them for Ice.

>> Since last year, more Kentucky jails are housing more immigration detainees.

Take one day in late January 2025, 130 detainees were in two county jails.

A year later, nearly eight times as many immigration detainees were spread across ten county jails.

That's 900 people that weren't there before.

Kenton county's jailer signed a new contract last year to rent more jail beds to the federal government.

>> When I took over and took office, you know, I looked at these beds as commodities.

>> Jails are obligated to house alleged criminals picked up by local police.

But county officials frequently testify in Frankfort that food, housing and medical costs for inmates are skyrocketing.

But offering to house federal inmates, including Ice detainees, can put jails back in the Black.

>> Space that we do have, right?

We want to use it to to the best, I think, for the county taxpayers.

And that's what we have tried to do.

And when we did this and decided to sign this agreement, that was part of it.

>> The federal government pays Kenton County $88 a day for each inmate.

The state pays two, but at less than half the federal rate.

>> If I'm housing somebody, then we're getting paid 3534 a day for and we can house somebody that we're getting $88 a day for.

That's just common sense.

Also in that 3534 right, is medical expenses, right, that we have to absorb for the state inmates?

Right.

On the federal side, we do not have to do that.

Right.

Any kind of outside outside medical care that they need.

Right.

Then the federal government picks that up.

We are not responsible for that.

>> Same goes for transportation.

Kenton County staff earn $43 an hour when driving federal inmates.

On top of that, Kenton County was holding Ice inmates for no more than three days.

Now, the jail has offered to house them indefinitely, but the group Kentucky Citizens for democracy says this still is not worth it.

They've been organizing in Oldham County and elsewhere.

>> Why does the richest county in Kentucky have to go get inmates from other states and bring them in here so that we can get paid so much per day to have them?

I find this immoral.

>> Kyle Ellison is a former corrections officer and has been tracking the numbers himself.

>> I mean, I would like to know exactly how many people are being imported, and I don't think it's an accident that that's hard to find out.

>> Based on a Kentucky Department of Corrections count from late last month.

40% of county jails have more inmates than beds.

A third of those jails take federal inmates.

>> And there's financial incentive to to put more people in there than you have beds for, even for the jails that are not overcrowded.

The temptation to overcrowd is always there.

>> Kenton County Jail also signed a collaborative agreement with Ice, referred to as the 287 program.

This will allow the local jail to process inmates into Ice custody.

>> We've not started it, so I don't know what to expect.

I think that it will kind of just be what we're doing now.

Other than we will be able to look at the information and not have to wait on an agent to come.

You know, we won't have that 72 hour gap between the detainer and actually placing them in immigration custody, and it may speed the process up for the inmate.

>> Mark field says Ice is not telling him what to do.

>> We decide that number, right?

We can say whether or not we have any open beds.

>> Have you all ever housed a child?

Would you ever know?

Including if that's with or without a parent?

>> No.

No.

>> While he would tell any jailer there is money to be had, he says any state mandate to collaborate with Ice wouldn't be right.

>> That's my personal belief.

It should be a local decision.

And I think that's where the best government is, is locally.

>> When state senator has proposed mandating local law enforcement enter agreements with Ice, including for jail enforcement.

At this point, Senate Bill 86 has not been heard before.

A Committee for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you, Jen, for that report.

Which jail holds the most Ice inmates?

Well, that's Boone County holding 202 immigrant detainees as of February 5th.

That's according to TRACK reports.org right after Boone, our Hopkins and Grayson counties.

The chair of the Senate Families and Children's Committee wants to give a cash reward to parents or child care providers who get Kentucky kids ready for kindergarten.

Details.

As we begin a look at tonight's legislative update, Senator Danny Carroll, a Republican from Paducah, presented Senate Bill 191 to the Families and Children Committee today.

The bill would establish a three year pilot program through the University of Kentucky, which would give a $2,000 cash reward to child care centers or low income parents whose children are designated, quote, kindergarten ready when they enter school.

Senator Carroll said he hopes the incentive could lead to more quality child care centers and improve Kentucky's kindergarten readiness rate, which is currently around 50%.

>> If we can get a strong foundation and we can get 8,090% of our kids kindergarten ready, imagine the the progress and success we can have in those first three years and beyond.

If teachers can focus on moving the kids forward instead of trying to get kids caught up who are not kindergarten ready.

So that's a big emphasis of this.

>> Bill as far as funding the program goes, Senator Carroll said the state's previous budget included $2 million that was not utilized.

It's his plan to request that those dollars be put toward this pilot program.

The Western Kentucky senator also said, as far as he knows, no other states have implemented this type of legislation.

The bill passed out of committee today without opposition.

Education remains a key focus of the Kentucky General Assembly this session, as lawmakers also craft a two year spending plan for the state.

Last night on Kentucky tonight, I asked our guests about how much the state should be spending on education and where that money should go.

Among the suggestions, increased teacher pay.

>> We really believe that our teachers need to be paid more.

We think that especially if you look in Tennessee with our Tennessee next year, there'll be a $50,000 beginning salary for teachers in the state of Tennessee.

That's going to be very difficult to recruit teachers, especially on the border.

>> What's the average in Kentucky for average?

>> I think the average starting is probably in the low 40s, probably around 4344.

I don't have that number in front of me.

Miss Shepherd may have that, I know, but I think it's in the in the low 40s, I would say some districts as low as 38,000 and others may be more depending on where you are in the state.

>> According to a National Education Association survey of average educator pay across all 50 states, Kentucky ranks and some of the lowest were in the low 40s.

When you look at average educator pay across the state.

And so for us to be able to pull in educators from not only Kentucky but across the country, we have to be able to compete with states across the country.

And so raising that educator pay so that we are able to recruit and retain not only within the education profession, but across all professions, is something that we have to do to be able to put the best teachers in front of Kentucky students.

>> We packed a lot into last night's discussion.

We talked about recent test scores, AI in the classroom and several school related proposals.

Now before the Kentucky General Assembly, including plans that would affect Jefferson and Fayette County schools.

You can see that full hour long conversation online on demand at Keturah George Rogers Clark KY.

Tonight.

DNA can be the key factor in capturing violent criminals and closing cold cases, but Kentucky is one of the few states that does not collect a DNA sample when booking a felony offender.

House Bill 414 aims to change that.

Our Mackenzie Spink brings us the testimony of a woman who waited over 30 years to see a DNA match, bring her offender to justice.

>> Michelle Kuiper is a sexual assault forensics expert.

She has worked in the Kentucky State Police forensic Lab and currently teaches a college course on rape criminology.

She also uses her personal story as a rape victim to advocate for DNA collection at felony arrest.

>> Two weeks into my freshman year of college in 1994, I was kidnaped and raped by a stranger.

He grabbed me from behind so I didn't even see him coming.

His moves were swift, smooth, manipulative, and he made me fear for my life.

It was obvious that he had done this before.

Around 2005, law enforcement called me to let me know that the man who victimized me went on to burglarize, rape, and terrorize two other women.

Where the DNA from their safe catch, which was a sexual assault forensic exam kit, all matched the same offender.

But there was no match to the DNA in the Codis databank, so the offender remained unknown.

>> Her offender, Curtis Boyd, continued to be in and out of police custody for felonies like tampering with evidence and trafficking controlled substances.

But his DNA was not entered into Codis or the combined DNA index system.

>> And it wasn't until 2012, when he was swabbed for his DNA.

Upon conviction of trafficking cocaine, that there was finally a match in Codis to the crimes against three women.

And if Kentucky would have had DNA collection at felony arrest, he would have been caught much sooner, and it would have saved so many lives from being harmed.

>> Ashley Spence also has a personal story regarding sexual assault, and now advocates for DNA collection at felony arrest.

She says House Bill 414 will bring justice to victims in Kentucky and help to exonerate the innocent.

>> In Texas.

When we expanded to collect for all felony arrests in one year, we closed 1005 cold cases.

When New Mexico did this, they saw an 83% match rate increase in searches in matches in the database.

>> She also touts the potential financial benefits of House Bill 414.

>> Doctor Jennifer Doleac found in her 2017 economic study.

For every DNA cheek swab that is entered into Codis, we prevent 0.57 serious offenses, which saves taxpayers $27,000 in crime costs.

>> According to bill sponsor Representative Patrick Flannery, who chairs the House Local Government Committee, where the bill was heard.

Today, 31 other states have DNA collection as part of the booking process for felony crimes, including six out of the seven states that border Kentucky.

House Bill 414 passed the Local Government Committee unanimously for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Under the Kentucky Constitution, convicted felons lose their right to vote.

Members of the League of Women Voters of Kentucky are working for automatic restoration of voting rights for certain nonviolent offenders.

Today, the group heard from people who've lost their right to vote, including the executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, who he claims is, quote, a second class citizen.

>> I was a prisoner, and I served my sentence and was released, and my sentence continues on beyond the sentence that the judiciary gave me, which was 14 to 42 years.

And that sentence is now 33 and almost 34 years ongoing, which includes that I cannot vote.

Now, if we have rights and they can be taken away, they're not rights.

They're selectively granted privileges by people in positions of power.

And these aren't questions of Partizan politics.

They're questions of justice and morality.

>> The Sentencing Project is a national research and advocacy project based out of Washington, D.C.

the group has partnered with the league for more than 20 years.

Today, they said restoring voting rights is important.

They believe for democracy.

>> Research shows that civic participation, including voting, is linked to lower recidivism rates or returns to prison.

When people feel invested in their communities, they feel heard and represented, they are more likely to remain engaged in positive ways, and restoration of voting is just not morally sound.

It is smart public safety, public policy that can strengthen community safety and hopefully for lawmakers that use rhetoric like we want to keep our community safe, we want, you know, people have to pay their debt.

And because of the crime they committed, they don't deserve the right to participate in the laws that govern them.

Well, if they are true to their word and they want to keep communities safe, the evidence suggests that keeping people engaged in their community helps prevent future returns to prison.

Future law breaking and voting is fundamental to expressing that civic involvement and community belonging.

It is short sighted from a community safety perspective to continue to exclude tens of thousands of Kentuckians from the democratic process.

>> House Bill 420 and Senate Bill 80 both address the restoration of voting rights.

Both bills are waiting to be heard in a committee.

The league says while the bills are a good start, they believe they don't go far enough.

Now turning to national politics in Washington, U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a past critic of mandatory vaccines, wants to make it easier to sue vaccine manufacturers for claims that their vaccines cause injury or death.

Senator Paul is the sponsor of what's called the Vaccine Carveout act.

He says right now, vaccine makers have special legal protections that prevent them from being sued.

Paul says if his bill passes vaccine makers, including makers of the Covid vaccine, would no longer have those protections and they could be sued like any other manufacturer of medical products.

COO and LG and E customers, you can expect to pay some higher energy bills.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved rate increases, meaning LG and customers will pay about $5 more per month for electricity and $8 more for gas.

EKU bills are expected to go up by an average of $9 a month.

The companies say the rate increases are necessary to update infrastructure and improve technology.

[MUSIC] How is Kentucky's largest city responding to criticism of Ice?

The FBI is investigating a Kentucky city's police department, and a community is getting back to normal after cold weather left some people without water.

Our Toby Gibbs has those stories, and this look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> Louisville Metro Council will not look at banning Ice agents from wearing masks for now.

[MUSIC] District six Democrat JP Leininger proposed the ban on people wearing masks in public for the purpose of concealing their identity, and it would apply to law enforcement.

Last year, the council voted down a similar proposal 13 to 12.

Louisville Public Media says this time it didn't get a committee hearing after a majority of council members said it violated internal rules.

Leininger called Ice agents, quote the mask to Stapo and said he wanted to raise the mask issue again.

After the deaths of two citizens in Minneapolis.

[MUSIC] The London City Council is now investigating the town police department.

So is the FBI.

Weku radio says the FBI is looking at whether police misuse their access to the National Crime Information Center.

It's the database that lets police search for information about stolen property, missing persons, criminal histories and domestic violence protection orders.

[MUSIC] It also allows access to the national sex offender registry.

The city Council passed a resolution last week about investigating Mayor Randall Weddle, acting chief of Police Gary Meller and other police officials.

[MUSIC] Weddle and the council have been at odds for a while.

[MUSIC] The council impeached Weddle last September, but a judge reinstated him.

Also from EKU.

People in Perry County are getting their water back.

The late January ice storm caused some people to go without water for up to ten days.

But as temperatures increased, water flow returned.

Hazard City Manager Tony Eversole said this was a problem throughout the region, leading to boil water advisories in many communities.

[MUSIC] Dawson Springs is rebuilding its city pool and park.

The December 2021 tornado destroyed both, the Paducah Sun reports.

Governor Andy Beshear was there for last Friday's groundbreaking.

[MUSIC] The governor's family is from the area.

[MUSIC] His grandfather preached at Primitive Baptist Church, which was also destroyed.

The tornado killed 81 people, 19 of them in Dawson Springs.

[MUSIC] With headlines around Kentucky, I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> The Louisville Orchestra is bringing its popular in Harmony tour to parts of central Kentucky this month with performances in Berea, Frankfort, and Danville.

Our Kelsey Starks sits down with the tour manager to find out more.

>> Well, Elizabeth is here.

The senior tour manager of the Louisville Orchestra's In Harmony tour.

Back again for a February round in the Lexington area.

And so for a lot of people who may not know what this is, explain the in Harmony tour and how it really is not just an orchestra event.

It's an immersion into the community.

>> Absolutely.

So we started this tour back in late 2022 into 2023, thanks to an appropriation from the Kentucky State Legislature that saw the value in having arts organizations go out into the state beyond the cities where they're based out of.

And so what we do is we take the entire orchestra on the road to various corners of the Commonwealth and really immerse ourselves in the communities that we're going to.

It's not just we're coming to play a concert for you.

We are going into the schools and the libraries and the community centers with our small ensembles and getting to know people that live there.

And then that culminates in us presenting a concert for them that is really based around their community, so they feel like they have a vested interest in it.

It's been really special to be a part of.

>> Yeah.

And you have the local musicians as a part of it.

And as you mentioned, the education outreach.

And now, because it has been going on now since 2022, you've really been able to see the impact.

So talk a little bit about that return on investment that you're seeing now.

>> Absolutely.

We really make an effort to as the tour has gone on year after year, we do a balance of returning to locations we've been to before, while also going to new communities that haven't gotten to experience the tour before.

So seeing that balance is really, really great while we're on the road, because we've made connections with people in these communities that we've gone to.

And so getting to go back and share a different concert, a different experience with them is always really impactful.

And then going to new communities as well is a whole different experience because they've heard about the tour.

Now the word is out and they're excited that we are there and coming to their community.

So there's a balance of impact that happens there.

>> So this tour too has also become sort of a model for other communities because it is unique to Kentucky.

Nobody else in the country is doing anything like this, right?

>> Yeah.

There are several other orchestras out there that are working with their local and state governments to bring the orchestra out to other people, but nothing to the scale of what we're trying to do at the Louisville Orchestra.

We are really leaning into a hybrid model of our small ensembles and our full orchestra performances.

And we're very, very fortunate that the legislature sees the value in what we can bring to their communities and how music really can be such a force to bring people together and create this community, not only between us and the people in those communities, but between the people in the communities themselves.

Experiencing live music together is such a bonding experience for the people that live there.

>> Yeah, there's truly nothing like it.

Well, thank you so much for being here.

And again, the February in Harmony tour is February 26th through the 28th.

It is free, but reservations are recommended.

Back to you.

>> Thank you Kelsey.

And if you're interested, the tour kicks off, as she said, next week in Berea on the 25th with a performance at Madison Southern High School.

And on Thursday the 26th, the orchestra performs at Western Hills High School in Frankfort.

And on Friday the 27th it will be at the Norton Center for the Arts in Danville.

You can find out more information at Louisville Orchestra Dot.

The Trump administration is clawing back more money, including grants for Kentucky students.

>> It was a shock and I think numbing frankly, that the that the work in fact is is stopping.

>> Tomorrow on Kentucky edition, we hear from the Prichard committee about how the grants were helping students and why they hope that progress can continue.

That story and so much more, including news and updates from the Kentucky General Assembly in Frankfort.

That session is going on, and we'll tell you all about it at 630 eastern, 530 Central on Kentucky Edition.

We inform, connect, and inspire.

We hope that you connect with us all the ways you see on your screen, the social media channels, Facebook and Instagram, and send us a story idea to the email on your screen.

Public affairs at Keturah.

I'm Renee Shaw, thank you for being with us tonight, and I hope to see you right back here again tomorrow night.

Take good care.