LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky yesterday filed suit against Louisville Metro Government seeking access to records from the Louisville Metro Detention Center (LMDC) about its use of incarcerated “observers” to monitor other individuals who are incarcerated for health and safety reasons.
The ACLU sought these records as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of incarcerated observers in Kentucky jails and prisons. A previous records request uncovered information from the Department of Corrections’ (DOC) use of incarcerated observers. But even though the DOC produced its records, LMDC refused to provide documents relating to its policy or training materials used in the program. We subsequently appealed LMDC’s refusal to provide the records to the Office of the Attorney General, but that office sided with LMDC. This suit asks the Jefferson Circuit Court to review the AG's decision.
“Kentucky’s Open Records Act is designed to promote government transparency and accountability,” said William Sharp, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky. “And access to the records at issue here is critical for the public to exercise meaningful oversight of LMDC’s use of incarcerated individuals’ labor to monitor other at-risk people in the facility, particularly in light of the numerous deaths that have occurred there.”
Since 2021, 22 people have died while in Louisville Metro Department of Corrections’ care, many of whom died from suicide. The “Inmate Observer” program is, primarily, a suicide prevention effort.
