Legislation to reshape the funding model for county jails in Kentucky is generating feedback from state lawmakers as the bill’s primary sponsor works to build consensus among House and Senate members.
Rep. Michael Meredith (R-Edmonson County) and KACo Executive Director Jim Henderson spoke Thursday before the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary about House Bill 557, Meredith’s jail proposal from the 2026 legislative session.
Henderson told committee members that counties are now putting roughly $170 million in local general fund dollars toward their jails, representing a 76% increase over the past six years.
“I think you’ll understand why this has become a crisis issue for counties,” Henerson said.
Meredith said previous efforts by the General Assembly to address county jails have largely centered on increasing the per diem payments to counties, currently $35.34 for state inmates. According to analysis by KACo, the actual daily cost of incarceration averages $63.44 per inmate (excluding Fayette and Jefferson counties).
“When [the General Assembly has] addressed it from a funding standpoint, a lot of what we’ve done has really been focused on the per diem rate,” Meredith said. “As we go forward on this, though, I think we need to have a more comprehensive approach.”
HB 557 would provide financial incentives for counties to establish or join regional jails, change how counties are reimbursed for certain felony pretrial detainees and create a new approach for housing state inmates in county facilities.
The proposal had an estimated fiscal impact of $200 million. Despite HB 557 receiving support from four dozen co-sponsors, it did not receive a committee hearing during the 2026 session.
Meredith emphasized that HB 557 is not intended to be a final answer. “We are at a crisis point amongst the county governments related to county jails,” he said. “We’re open to listening to any ideas.”
Committee members questioned Meredith on a wide range of issues, reflecting the complexity of the jail funding debate. Questions touched on medical costs, regionalization, pretrial detention for felony and misdemeanor defendants, the potential of the state assuming responsibility for county jail operations and the constitutional status of elected jailers.
The Oct. 1 discussion was part of the interim process leading into the 2027 legislative session. Meredith said the goal is to give lawmakers an opportunity to understand the challenges facing county jails and consider possible solutions before the return to Frankfort in January.
“We want to get it out there so that a large majority of the General Assembly gets to see what we’re talking about prior to the next session,” Meredith said.
