Louisville mayor moves to improve transparency, intake evaluations at Metro Corrections jail

Mayor Craig Greenberg announced three new changes his administration is implementing at Louisville Metro Corrections aimed at improving transparency and the mental health of those housed at the jail.

The changes, revealed at a Thursday press conference, include a new online dashboard to show statistics and demographics of the current jail population, a new screening to evaluate the mental and behavioral health of inmates arriving to the facility along with a Request for Proposals to search for new health care services.

"Through these changes we're going to make a dramatic impact in the level of safety and health of those residing at Metro Corrections. We're moving as fast as we can to bring these and other changes, and we will work with the community to be as transparent and responsive as possible to make sure we deliver this much needed change," Greenberg said in a release.

The jail has been the topic of criticism and lawsuits in recent years over several issues, including 13 inmate deaths in 2023 and a "toxic" environment for employees, according to a Courier Journal investigation. Former Director Dwayne Collins announced his retirement last spring amid a wave of criticism.

Some critics and a number of experts have said Louisville needs a new facility to tackle ongoing issues. But at his press conference, Greenberg said his adminstration is focused on improving the current jail over building a new one.

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Here's a closer look at changes planned at Louisville Metro Corrections:

Dashboard

The Jefferson County Criminal Justice Commission developed an online dashboard that will give people access to current data on the jail's inmate population. The database is already available to the public and Louisville Metro Corrections Director Jerry Collins said it will be updated three times a day.

Some of the data available include inmates' race, gender, length of stay, category of charge and amount of bond. The tool has different graphics and is interactive – people can choose the information they want to see.

Triage and intake process

Mental health evaluation of inmates arriving at the jail will be more thorough moving forward, Greenberg said. There will also be a high-level mental health professional present at the jail 24 hours a day and every person arriving at the facility will be evaluated by a mental health professional. Those services had previously been conducted by a registered nurse who relied on resident disclosures or their own evaluation of whether a health condition was present.

"We know that the delivery of effective mental health services is absolutely critical to maintaining a safe environment for residents and for our team. We can only help people when we know what kind of help they really need. So, this is a simple critical change that can produce better health and safety outcomes for our entire population and staff," Greenberg said Thursday.

Collins said the idea for the evaluations came from the Behavioral Health Center in Nashville a few months ago. They will begin on May 1.

RFP for health care services

Greenberg said the city will open an RFP to search for new health care services, given that their current contract with Wellpath expiries on July 31 of this year.

The release said the RFP is looking for a health care provider that offers physical care, but also mental and behavioral health – including treatments of substance use disorders and medical detoxification – and it is bein developed "with significant community input."

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Reach Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez at abrinez@gannett.com; follow her on Twitter at @SoyAnaAlvarez.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Metro Corrections jail makes changes to improve transparency