Administration of the governor’s office

A society that cannot enforce its law, is a society in decay.

As the General Government Cabinet consists of multiple Constitutional offices, I will work with these officials to coordinate information, reduce waste, and assist in any capacity they need to perform their Constitutional duties.

An Institution of Information and Administration will consist of the current Cabinets of Personnel, Finance and Administration, and Tourism, Arts and Heritage. Most administrative agencies from every executive department and agency will be consolidated into this Institution. Merging these Cabinets will consolidate administrative cost making state government more efficient and budget friendly.

An Institution of Justice will consist of the current Cabinets: Justice, Public Safety, Public Protection, Environment and parts of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Merging these Cabinets, and some of their departments and agencies, will eliminate administrative costs, coordinate investigations and information, and eliminate duplicative functions. Expanding our crime lab operations and resources will be a day 1 through day 1,460 priority.

An Institute of Wards will consist of the Department of Corrections, Department of Juvenile Justice, Economic Development, parts of the Cabinet for Education and Labor, and parts of CHFS. Our state has over 200,000 arrests per year, over 80,000 felonies committed per year, and our state inmate facilities can hold a maximum of 12,365 state inmates. 7,200 state inmates are housed in county jails, and over 60,000 serve their felony time walking among us.

We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual lawbreaker is accountable for his actions. ~Ronald Reagan. We must build 50,000 felony inmate cells. The inmates will be required to work 8 hours a day and counsel/ educate for 2 hours a day.

Their minimum wage income will pay: their room and board, their supervision fees, victim restitution, child support, fines, etc. Instead of watching movies, texting, emailing, vaping, playing games, and ordering pizzas, they can develop a work ethic, education, and contribute to society.

Their labor will fuel new economic development projects. Hemp processing centers will bridge Kentucky’s most versatile natural resource with new manufacturing and industry. Our farmers will earn 2.8 billion dollars ($400 per acre) in revenue for a low- cost crop.

Hemp OSB/ LVL, insulation, bioplastics, textiles, and paper manufacturing will have 20 million tons of processed raw materials which will provide Kentucky with much needed revenue and thousands of jobs. In 1900, Kentucky was 1st in manufacturing and 2nd in farm product value in the South by growing 75% of U.S. industrial hemp.

Dare I say make Kentucky Great Again? Inmate labor will operate mega limestone and iron quarries, concrete, lime binder, and iron production plants with rebar and concrete block manufacturing to offset state building costs of bridges, roads, buildings, shelters, and hydroelectric dams. Excess materials may be sold to county governments for their infrastructure.

An inmates’ debt to society will be paid in full. Individuals will be held accountable for their criminal actions. Hopefully, the crime is not worth the time.

With 7,200 state inmates removed from county jails, we can implement lock down treatment centers in every county. Methamphetamine and opiate addiction are responsible for most of our dependency, neglect and abuse cases, thefts and other crimes, and homelessness. While these addictions have grandparents raising children, foster parents needed, and stretch education resources into mental health, our current legislation focuses on deferring prosecutions, diversion, or probation.

There needs to be one sentence: State administered six- month lock down treatment programs. The additional inmate cells may also be remodeled to provide mental health institutions and/or assisted living facilities. 200,000 Kentuckians reached for mental health resources due to addiction in 2022, it is time they reached a hand!