Kentucky Senate Majority Caucus Leadership has once again appointed Senator Whitney Westerfield (R-Hopkinsville) as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of the 2017 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.
Westerfield will begin his second four-year term in January, representing Logan and Todd counties as well as Christian. He was unopposed for reelection this year in both the primary and general elections. He also was the Republican nominee for Attorney General in 2015.
“I am honored to continue my chairmanship of the important Judiciary Committee in the Senate for the next two years,” Sen. Westerfield said. “Since I assumed the chair in 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee has undertaken enormous efforts in juvenile justice, substance abuse, and dating violence, but there is still much work to be done.”
Westerfield was named a member of Governor Bevin’s Criminal Justice Policy Assessment Council in June and has been working with stakeholders on a reform bill to present during the 2017 Session. “Every single county and state correctional facility is over capacity, and our spending on adult corrections alone consumes half a billion in taxpayer dollars. Kentucky has the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of children who have had a parent incarcerated in the nation, which wreaks havoc on both the Commonwealth’s social fabric and safety net. We can, and should, do more to increase public safety and get a better return on our criminal justice taxpayer investment.”
In addition to his chairmanship on the Judiciary Committee, Westerfield was also reappointed as a member of the following Senate Standing Committees: Agriculture; Natural Resources and Energy; and Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection. Sen. Westerfield was also reappointed as a liaison member of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and as a member of the following statutory committees: Capital Planning Advisory Board, Program Review and Investigations, and Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight. Additionally, Westerfield will remain in his post as co-chair of the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council.
“We are looking forward to a new legislative session in 2017 with a new majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives,” Westerfield added. “There will be several fresh faces added to the Legislature in 2017, but our focus will remain fixed on our mission of creating Kentucky jobs and strengthening Kentucky families.”