[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6602135,"mediaKeyId","3005690-61ea0acd42cbc84e992ac9fa02e46765","parentId",3005690,"title","Fayette County Sheriff outlines Amanda Center services, partnership network for victims of domestic and sexual violence","audioSeconds",6398,"startMs",344000,"endMs",6742000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3005690-61ea0acd42cbc84e992ac9fa02e46765&start=344&end=6742","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3005690-61ea0acd42cbc84e992ac9fa02e46765/thumbnail_344000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6602135/Lexington-City/Fayette-County/Kentucky/Fayette-County-Sheriff-outlines-Amanda-Center-services-partnership-network-for-victims-of-domestic-and-sexual-violence","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6602135-9120c419b3a8cc9e0ccc568aa769a3c8/orig.mp4?Expires=1771187406&Signature=SfIPdSeXPNAOvKwJhbx-acF51e2IoYuxXuuynbS8sd6ZCc46xJ9Hd~S7DPmJqudM3IZgvgDjwNdyMDj4qTmz1lmRfqRsy-ky9ze1Nb6tNIqd34e0wSpkv1l1UgsD~W~VICu7ZCyheDOSRwN8Obbvn4tvtImCv-4Pj-Od4ETlbPM4sKFMucGHZeI-sgfu2FI-jdK4~QZQOq4hLlMSO0us0JH9g~NoQfjhcuhzKg-eaW5eOGpkHKUlgEufjsTksANO22VFwMqDcC00RBcZm0eO-rab0jGzQqIwXZFWC7ya~5mrCzHE1bQvWzlOJhe7KomgYoQT~wNZd77P0d-av7RIEQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Lexington","date","2025-04-15T00:00:00Z","article","Sheriff Kathy Witt told the Lexington City Social Services and Public Safety Committee on April 15 that the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office operates the Amanda Center, a unit of the sheriff’s office that provides around-the-clock advocacy and support to people seeking protective orders and other services related to domestic and sexual violence.

Witt said the Amanda Center currently has six advocates, four sworn staff and a commander, and that the office uses federal grant funding to cover part of those salaries and to pay for nontraditional supports such as rideshare credit for court appearances, installation of home security devices and a GPS ankle-monitoring capability that can be deployed immediately when a judge orders monitoring under a protective order. “We are open 24/7, 365 days a year,” Witt said. “When you come to the courthouse, you’re going to be met with someone who supports you and who believes you.”

The Amanda Center, Witt said, also enters emergency protective orders and domestic abuse orders into state and national systems so the orders are accessible to law enforcement across the country, and the office manages safe surrender and return of firearms tied to protective orders by conducting background checks, including checks of the federal NICS database.

Witt traced the Amanda Center’s origins to a 2010 naming in memory of Amanda Ross and described the center’s evolution from a small unit created in 1992 into the larger division that works with Lexington Division of Police, the county attorney’s office and other local partners. She described federal funding sources that support the center’s work, specifically Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grants, and said some equipment and services—such as phone and doorbell devices—are purchased with those funds.

Council members and other committee members asked how services are provided to people who cannot come to the courthouse and whether supports are available irrespective of gender identity. Witt said staff and cross-deputized personnel can go to hospitals or homes, and she affirmed the office’s policy of serving “everyone who comes into the office of sheriff,” including transgender survivors. Council Member Curtis cited national studies on elevated risks for transgender people; Witt noted the office’s intention to support all survivors and deliver services wherever they are needed.

During public comment and committee discussion, Sheriff Witt and Council Member Gray also described the office’s community outreach: a domestic violence vigil each October at the Fayette District Courthouse plaza, pamphlet distribution at neighborhood meetings and partnerships with local nonprofits. Council Member Gray credited the sheriff’s office with providing a ring doorbell to her after she reported an assault; Gray said the office helped install it.

Later in the meeting Stephanie Thigston, coordinator of the Lexington Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition (a city-supported coalition), gave an overview of the coalition’s work. Thigston described programmatic lines including “It’s Time Lexington,” a citywide prevention initiative; a youth prevention and response coordinator (Melissa Wallace) focused on children exposed to violence; and a Green Dot Lexington specialist (Alyssa Turk) who provides free bystander-training for schools and organizations. “Kids are survivors too,” Thigston said, and the coalition is working to expand responses and resources for children.

Thigston reviewed local and national statistics the coalition uses in outreach: she said an estimated one in five women and one in 71 men experience sexual assault in their lifetime and that reporting rates are low — she cited a figure that about 63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police. She urged council members to use city platforms to spread awareness and to support inclusive policies and survivor-centered services.

The sheriff’s office and the coalition both invited further input from council members and community partners and offered contact points for people seeking services or wanting to volunteer information or ideas.

Ending: Committee members praised the presentations and thanked staff and community partners. No formal vote or ordinance was taken on the presentations; the session moved next to a separate agenda item about recovery residences.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Lexington - Social Services and Public Safety Committee - Apr 15, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Sheriff Kathy Witt told the committee the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office Amanda Center provides 24/7 advocacy, emergency-protective-order support and supplemental services—rideshare credits, security devices and on-site GPS monitoring when ordered by a judge—to survivors of domestic and sexual violence.","taxTitle","Lexington City, Fayette County, Kentucky","taxId",5707,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6602130,"Committee reviews draft recovery-residence ordinance; law department and staff outline enforcement, certification and privacy questions",1654,1777000,3431000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3005690-61ea0acd42cbc84e992ac9fa02e46765&start=1777&end=3431","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3005690-61ea0acd42cbc84e992ac9fa02e46765/thumbnail_1777000.jpg","/articles/6602130/Lexington-City/Fayette-County/Kentucky/Committee-reviews-draft-recovery-residence-ordinance-law-department-and-staff-outline-enforcement-certification-and-privacy-questions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6602130-46e26d9139b8700bdfd960826f567d1e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771187406&Signature=eAAnaWgzAxLCWmP5m5X7SaXHB0w3VhPpd2lukFPhAUyGu9jmPHfUdWWu5biFFFKgtmSRm6-auuQ2MnJF7VZLvx1BmFdNS-Tsc73~mRF~Fn7PoCvsoq4ygVN0vP09Otn77PrVE5yEuj4NDPQuuRREYqXMiyp6VLh2HiIIBuVsuCDhcgxa2vvfzAaZZXixFXhT~JgfqvmdPKGj0hfXKW3g9KG7ncQsYMgqq6ZCi6v06jOuj4fD1EHRIwUp-cTTZ8AQIVEoMJLoS8tj-9uPgEIHVQy~iOzHPU7e34gea~HK7njJgKYKCtZismBuDdc8b2OQ3KmMvw9ON6vPpWLYad0h9w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City law department counsel presented a draft recovery-residence (sober-living) ordinance to the Lexington Social Services and Public Safety Committee on April 15, summarizing how the proposal would integrate recent state law, local licensing and federal civil-rights constraints.

Law Department attorney Michael Cravens said the draft follows the state requirement that operators be certified by an approved certifying organization and provide proof of that certification. The ordinance would require operators — not individual tenants — to obtain an annual local recovery-residence license, provide documentation to the city for compliance review, and submit a zoning-compliance permit confirming the use is appropriate for the property’s zoning. Cravens said the draft includes a six‑month grace period after enactment to allow operators time to comply.

Cravens reviewed two federal legal guardrails that shape the draft: the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. He said both statutes generally protect people in recovery from discrimination on the basis of disability (with statutory language excluding current illegal use of controlled substances). He cautioned the committee that local rules cannot treat groups of people in recovery less favorably than other protected groups or residential uses, so the draft does not create special land‑use density limits for recovery residences and treats the housing use similarly to student or other shared housing.

Key features Cravens described in the draft ordinance include:
- a requirement that operators submit proof of state certification and obtain a renewable local license;
- a zoning-compliance permit process, with notice to abutting property owners as part of the permit application (described as a formalization of existing “good neighbor” practices used by some certifying programs);
- an enforcement scheme authorizing civil citations and penalties (with a maximum civil penalty in draft language) and an appeals process; and
- a provision permitting immediate action by the government if the enforcing division and the law department determine there is a threat to public health, safety or welfare.

Committee members asked detailed questions about how the ordinance would work in practice. Council Member Martin sought clarification on occupancy, and Cravens said the ordinance does not displace generally applicable zoning occupancy limits and that the planning division’s guidance sets a maximum of eight residents per unit for this use. Members asked what precise circumstances would trigger immediate closure; Cravens said action would be considered when there is a documented, immediate threat to public health or safety and that the law department would advise enforcement divisions case by case.

Council Member Lynch and others asked whether the city law department had consulted the Kentucky Alliance of Recovery Residences (KARR, referenced in the meeting as KYAR or Kyar). Cravens said social services staff had been in contact with the state organization; Dane Priest, executive director of the Kentucky Alliance of Recovery Residences, later spoke to the committee and outlined the state certification process, noting it can range from two weeks to more than a year depending on completeness of documentation. Priest said the certification process is a multi‑phase review (registration, policies and procedures, and on‑site verification) and that his organization can notify local municipalities when a certification is revoked or denied.

Council members raised several operational concerns they asked the administration to address before advancing ordinance language: how complaints will be routed and tracked (311 was proposed as a routing mechanism), whether the city will publish locations or only generalized location information because of safety and fair‑housing concerns, how the city will assess and record repeated law‑enforcement or code‑enforcement incidents when considering nonrenewal, and what the city will do for residents displaced if a bad‑actor operator is shut down. Social services staff replied they do not have capacity to rehouse residents but cited an existing Recovery Supportive Living Assistance (RSLA) program that could be used to help some displaced residents and said the city would publicize resources to assist rehousing.

Cravens noted the draft intentionally avoids regulating tenants’ behavior or treating tenants differently from other residential occupants; the draft focuses on operator licensing and certification. Committee members requested that the ordinance clarify definitions (for example, mirroring the state law definition of recovery support services), that standard operating procedures be drafted and published to explain complaint and penalty matrices, and that staff and legal counsel develop concrete re‑housing or transition plans so a closure does not leave residents immediately without options.

Ending: Council Member Morton — sponsor of the item — said the draft is a starting point and pledged continued stakeholder engagement; council members on the committee said they expect additional revisions addressing occupancy, privacy of location information, enforcement thresholds, notification timelines for certification changes, and capacity for post‑closure resident support before the ordinance moves forward.","City law staff presented a draft recovery-residence ordinance proposing operator licensing tied to state certification, a zoning-compliance step, civil-enforcement authority and a six-month compliance grace period.","actionData","errors"]

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Fayette County Sheriff outlines Amanda Center services, partnership network for victims of domestic and sexual violence

Committee reviews draft recovery-residence ordinance; law department and staff outline enforcement, certification and privacy questions