Request By:
Hon. Virginia Meagher
District Court Judge
Breathitt County Courthouse
Jackson, Kentucky 41339
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Carl T. Miller, Jr., Assistant Attorney General
You have written the Attorney General requesting an opinion on several questions involving jails and juveniles. We will answer your questions as presented.
1. Whose job is it to transport defendants to Eastern State Hospital and back to the Wolfe County Jail? Recently an inmate, while in the Breathitt District Court, threatened suicide if he was returned to the Wolfe County Jail. I entered an order for him to be admitted to Eastern State Hospital for observation and evaluation. When the time came for him to be returned, several days later, to the Wolfe County Jail, both the Breathitt County Jailer and the Breathitt County Sheriff adamantly insisted it was not their job. Eastern State Hospital had informed me that the hospital would pay mileage at least one way for wherever transported. (In this case, the inmate had escaped from Eastern State Hospital before I could get anyone there to pick him up.) Can I order the state police to transport in a case such as this?
Answer: You cannot order the state police to transport the prisoner in such a case. It is the duty of the Breathitt County Jailer to transport the prisoner to the proper court and to hospitals and doctors for any necessary medical attention. See OAG 83-185 enclosed. Also see OAG 84-179 concerning new amendments to the statutes effective July 13, 1984.
2. Whose job is it to transport juveniles to the Clay County Jail? Should the arresting officer or the jailer make the decision regarding whether the juvenile should be detained in secure detention rather than being released to the custody of a responsible adult? (You explained that the Clay County Jail has a section for juveniles and the Breathitt County Fiscal Court has entered into a contract with Clay County whereby juveniles from Breathitt County who require secure detention can be detained in the Clay County Jail.)
Answer: It is the duty of the Jailer of Breathitt to transport a juvenile to the Clay County Jail for secure detention. It is the responsibility of the arresting officer to make the decision regarding whether the juvenile should be detained in secure detention rather than being released to the custody of a responsible adult. KRS 208.110.
You also ask if the clerk can issue a pick-up order for a juvenile who has not been charged with a public offense under KRS 208.020(1)(a) but instead has been charged under (b) or (c) of the statute as delinquent or a runaway. We see no reason why a pick-up order cannot be issued for a delinquent or runaway child when a proper petition has been filed by the parent, guardian or a responsible adult.