Jan. 24, 2018
FRANKFORT – Some prisoners in work programs or re-entry initiatives could soon be behind the wheel on Kentucky’s roadways if a bill a state Senate committee approved today becomes law.
Known as Senate Bill 37, the legislation would allow federal and state prisoners to get driver’s licenses so they could participate in work programs or re-entry initiatives outside of prison walls. SB 37 would also amend current law to included federal prisoners under existing regulations that allow state prisoners to receive driver’s licenses or identification cards upon release.
When SB 37 was presented to the Senate transportation Committee, Sen. Dorsey Ridley, D-Henderson, asked if federal inmates locked up in Kentucky are counted as state residents.
U.S. Bureau of Prisons official Scott Butcher, who testified in support of the bill, said the U.S. Census Bureau counts federal inmates as residents of the county where they are incarcerated. He added that Kentucky, however, doesn’t currently allow prisoners to use their prison address when applying for a driver’s license.
The five institutions the bureau operates in Kentucky are the U.S. Penitentiary at Big Sandy, U.S. Penitentiary at McCreary, Federal Correctional Institution at Manchester, Federal Correctional Institution at Ashland and Federal Medical Center at Lexington.
Ridley also asked why SB 37 contained an emergency clause, a provision allowing a bill to become effective immediately upon approval by the governor rather than 90 days after adjournment of the General Assembly.
Butcher said the emergency clause was added because licensed prisoners are vital to the smooth operations of bureau facilitates in Kentucky. Prisoners are used to perform essential tasks such as driving maintenance vehicles. In the event that SB 37 becomes law, Butcher added that federal officials are already working with the state Transportation Cabinet to get the necessary regulations in place to issue driver’s licenses to prisoners.
Committee Chairman Sen. Ernie Harris, R-Prospect, sponsored the bill. He said the Senate passed a similar bill last year but that it did not become law.
Butcher previously testified before an interim joint committee that another goal of the change in law was to allow prisoners to drive to off-site jobs to learn employable skills and earn taxable incomes. Butcher said that would reduce the rate of recidivism or the likelihood of returning to prison. Currently, one in three people released from federal prison will return.
SB 37 now goes to the Senate floor for further consideration.
