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Resident urges Fiscal Court to investigate jail overcrowding, ICE detainer of 18-year-old
Summary
A resident told the Kenton County Fiscal Court the county jail is at 180% capacity and urged officials to investigate an 18-year-old held on an ICE detainer, calling for questions to be asked of police and jail leadership.
Michael Staverman used the Citizens Address to press the Fiscal Court on conditions at the Kenton County Detention Center, saying, “As of May 7th, there were 668 prisoners total, with 153 of those being federal inmates,” and adding that the total “puts the detention center at 180% capacity.” He told the court the facility lacked beds for detainees and said one case raised concerns about policing and immigration enforcement.
Staverman described the case of Nelbi Chun De Leon, an 18-year-old high school student who, he said, was followed from a gas station, racially profiled and arrested. Staverman said De Leon’s only remaining charge was not having his license on him but that the young man has been held on an ICE detainer for more than a month. “This is not a compassionate policy…Jailing children for $88 a day? That's not good policy,” Staverman said, and called on the Fiscal Court to investigate the arrest circumstances and ask Chief Jones and Jailer Fields for details, including whether De Leon currently has a bed.
The comments were delivered during the public-comment portion of the May 26 meeting; no court response or formal direction to staff or law enforcement was recorded in the minutes. The transcript shows County Attorney Stacy Tapke and law-enforcement officials were identified as appropriate contacts for questions raised, but the minutes do not record any immediate follow-up action or a motion directing an investigation. The court did not vote on any action in response during the meeting.
