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Hardin County attorney reports rise in abuse-and-neglect filings, expands family recovery court and treatment services
Summary
County Attorney Jenny Oldham outlined 2024 caseloads, said the office expanded its family recovery court with $60,000 per year funding, described a shift of child-support services to the attorney general’s office and noted increased truancy workload under House Bill 611.
Jenny Oldham, Hardin County attorney, delivered a detailed annual report to the fiscal court on April 8, summarizing 2024 caseloads, staffing changes and new treatment-focused programs.
Oldham said her office handled 276 abuse-and-neglect family cases in 2024 (each case averages two children), and noted that COVID-era reporting changes masked earlier detection of abuse. She said delinquent school attendance will add workload under House Bill 611, which requires pupil personnel directors to confer with county attorneys when a child misses more than 15 days.
Oldham reviewed several operational items: the office’s child-support division currently has “a little over 4,000 open cases,” she said, and the child-support contract will move from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the attorney general’s office on July 1. She described a newly established family recovery court run by Volunteers of America that began in 2023 and took its first case in 2024; Oldham said 15 families now participate and the court received a $60,000 annual commitment for five years.
Oldham described court-based treatment services funded through phase 1 opioid funds, including a full-time treatment coordinator, Katie Bennett, who has assessed 55 court-involved cases; Oldham reported 47 percent of those were in progress in treatment and 31 percent completed successfully. She said noncompliance amounted to about 12 percent of cases and stressed noncompliance typically leads to incarceration rather than dismissal.
On criminal and traffic caseloads, Oldham said the office handled about 11,000 traffic cases and roughly 1,300 felony arrests processed through preliminary hearings. She noted the county contributes $50,000 annually to the “Rocket Docket,” an expedited felony docket that recovers state reimbursement sooner on certain cases; Oldham said 22 percent of felony cases were resolved on Rocket Docket last year.
Oldham also described specialized petitions handled by her office: 52 involuntary mental-health (inquest) petitions, 31 guardianship petitions and 22 Casey’s Law involuntary drug-treatment petitions. She said the office prepared 363 trial-preparation packages and noted a decrease in some filings since 2017 tied in part to legislative reclassification of offenses.
Oldham addressed courthouse and justice-center issues: she noted security and physical-plant upgrades in the county-attorney office after a 2024 shooting incident, including card-key entry, pink-noise acoustic treatment and reflective window tint. She also said the state owns the Hardin County Justice Center and that language in a prior budget bill could transfer the deed to the county after HVAC replacement; she said the HVAC project is scheduled to start in August and estimated a deed-transfer timeline in 2027 if the contract timeline holds.
Why it matters: Oldham tied expanded treatment and recovery programs to efforts to keep children out of foster care and to address substance-related cases earlier; she said the office’s investments in treatment and probation monitoring are intended to improve outcomes and reduce long-term county costs.
Ending: Oldham thanked her staff and noted staffing and retention improvements after recent budget increases; magistrates and the judge praised the office’s work and the expansion of court-based treatment programs.
