BLOG: Five Years of Advocacy—Kentucky Smart on Crime is Making an Impact in Frankfort
He may not have known it at the time, but when then-Kentucky Public Advocate Ed Monahan convened a meeting with ACLU of Kentucky and Catholic Conference of Kentucky in late 2015 to discuss criminal justice reform efforts at the state level, he was planting the seed for what would become one of the largest, most impactful coalitions in Frankfort.
Legislative session after legislative session, Kentucky was digging itself deeper and deeper into a hole with poor policymaking, sinking vast sums of money into jails and prisons, only to see recidivism rates increase.
Meanwhile, Texas and other states were implementing research-based reforms. They improved their sentencing and supervision policies by focusing on violent crime. They then reinvested the savings into cost-effective strategies to reduce recidivism rates by diverting folks away from incarceration and toward the services they need.
And it worked.
States instituting reforms saw their crime AND incarceration rates decrease.
The Texas success story was in part due to the effectiveness of a criminal justice coalition that brought businesses, the faith community, and nonprofit organizations together in a united front for change.
It was time for Kentucky to do the same.
By January of 2016, a wide range of groups including the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, ACLU of Kentucky, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, Kentucky Council of Churches, Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, and the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers were congregating in the Capitol rotunda to announce the Kentucky Smart on Crime Coalition.
Three months later, the group was celebrating a big victory with the signing of HB40, a landmark expungement law opening new opportunities to individuals with certain felony offenses after they had completed their sentences.
“The early success was big for the group,” said Kate Miller, Advocacy Director for ACLU of Kentucky. “I think everyone was hopeful we could make an impact, but no one was quite sure what to expect because it was sort of unprecedented for some of us to be collaborating with one another. When we put points on the board right off the bat, it built camaraderie and helped to attract more partner organizations into the fold.”
The momentum carried over into the 2017 legislative session in the form of SB120, a reentry package that made it possible for workers with records to receive some occupational licenses, authorized day reporting programs and reentry centers, as well as provided more work and training opportunities for inmates while incarcerated.
In just a few years, Smart on Crime helped deliver several important legislative victories, including:
- SB 57 (2019), which expanded eligible offenses to most Class D (the lowest level) felonies and lowered expungement fees from a $500 fee to $250.
- HB327(2020), which further streamlined expungement law by creating a process whereby charges that result in an acquittal or dismissal are automatically expunged.
- HB284 (2020), which better aligned incentives for probation to better match those of parole.
2021 was unquestionably the most successful year yet, with legislators often publicly acknowledging the Coalition’s efforts in leading the charge for important reforms. Kentucky Smart on Crime helped shepherd six bills into law.
- SB32 included reforms to the process by which juveniles are transferred to adult court and returns discretion in these cases to local prosecutors and judges.
- HB126 was the years-long culmination of an effort to bring Kentucky’s felony theft threshold statutes to the national median of states at $1,000.
- HB497 removed more barriers to reentry for those exiting the corrections system.
- SB80 brought more transparency and accountability to police conduct and hiring.
- SB4 significantly limited the use of no-knock warrants.
- SB84, dubbed “Dignity Bill 2”, provided pregnant women in incarceration the necessary resources for a safe and healthy pregnancy.
Since 2018, a number of new organizations have joined Smart on Crime and the fight for criminal justice reform, including partner organizations representing victims advocacy groups, Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs; Volunteers of America Mid-States, a not-for-profit behavioral health organization focused on important issues like addiction recovery and restorative justice; the NAACP of Kentucky, Kentucky Criminal Justice Forum, and United Way of Kentucky. These additions are a testament to the momentum and strength of the coalition.
“Legislators have really taken notice that such a large collection of groups is working in common cause on some really complex issues,” said Laela Kashan, Staff Attorney for Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs. “To be able to speak as a unified voice carries a lot of weight.”
In just five short years, Kentucky Smart on Crime has helped the state to reduce recidivism, improve the criminal code, create a safer environment for law enforcement and community members, and better direct resources in the justice system.
The growing coalition’s united advocacy and media efforts are yielding results, but the group is not resting on its laurels in the pursuit of working on common sense justice reforms that proactively address individual and systemic racial disparities and inequities, improve public health, enhance public safety, strengthen communities, and promote cost-effective sentencing alternatives.
