Saturday, August 21, 1999
New juvenile justice center officially open
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Gov. Paul Patton was reminded of a brief brush with the law he experienced as a teen-ager when he dedicated the new Campbell Regional Juvenile Detention Center here Friday.
“During a tour of the facility today, I was invited to talk with a group of boys who were involved in a counseling session,” the governor told a gathering of local and state officials. “I told them I spent two nights in a juvenile detention facility for something I had done when I was their age.
“I hope I made an impression. I feel that experience had a direct affect on me and, I believe, helped me develop the work ethic that has served me for many years. It was a wake-up call to do something with my life.”
The $4.3 million juvenile facility, which has 52 beds and a staff of 48, opened Aug. 2. It is the third regional center to open, following ones in Breathitt County and McCracken County (Paducah).
Mr. Patton said the dedication marked “not only a celebration but a failure, in that we need a facility like this because we aren't reaching our children. We can hope that this facility will give our young children one more chance to do everything they are capable of doing.”
Campbell County Judge-executive Steve Pendery echoed Mr. Patton's remarks. “I toured this facility recently, and I was impressed with the design, and with the professionalism of the staff. But I must admit it is chilling that we need something like this for our children.”
Former Judge-executive Ken Paul, one of the people instrumental in bringing the juvenile facility to Northern Kentucky, said the detention center would not be a reality without the cooperation of state, county and local officials throughout the region.
“A key element here was that every police department, mayor and city official, judge-executive and state elected official was willing to work together to make this project work,” he said. “And the area owes a debt of gratitude to this governor.”
The overall plan of the state's Department of Juvenile Justice is to have 10 juvenile detention centers around the state. Three more have been funded and will open next year; and the governor said he would discuss funding for the other four, projected to open in 2003, during the next General Assembly in the spring.
The Campbell regional center serves the counties of Kenton, Boone, Campbell, Trimble, Carroll, Oldham, Henry, Owen, Grant, Gallatin, Pendleton, Harrison, Robertson, Bracken and Mason.
The facility, located at 590 Columbia St. next to the Campbell County District Court building and the adult detention center, includes an indoor multipurpose room, classrooms, a recreation area and a library.
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