My name is Kelli Krill Elliott and I respectfully ask for your consideration to vote for me to be your next Graves County Jailer.
I am the only candidate for jailer with the ideas and plans that will reverse the jail’s financial drain on the county treasury and the only candidate with the leadership and vision to make our jail a place of excellence as we move forward into the 21st Century.
I hope to convince you that I have the experience, education, and proven ability to get the job done right and to effect the change our county and Fiscal Court need and deserve.
First, I am a life-long Graves County resident committed to making a positive difference in our city and county for both my family and our community.
I have twenty years experience in rehabilitation of those with substance abuse and criminal histories, with twelve of those years working with the Department of Corrections in jails, prisons, and, probation and parole offices.
I have served for the Kentucky State Department of Corrections as a Program Administrator and the Fulton County Detention Center as the Clinical Director of Substance Abuse Programs.
I have a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, and I am a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor.
Additionally, I am a member of the Kentucky Council on Crime and Delinquency, the Southern States Correctional Association, and the American Business Woman’s Association.
If you elect me, I will transform our jail from being a dysfunctional money pit into both a profitable enterprise and a first-class institution of which our jail employees and our taxpayers can be proud.
If you elect me, this is how you will measure my performance.
As a taxpayer and a voter in this county, you have nothing to lose and much to gain by voting for the change I will bring.
If you ask our Commissioners, Judge Executive or anyone associated with our fiscal court - current or past – no one can remember a time when our jail did not greatly burden our county treasury. Today, we have deficits that run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I want to turn that situation around and put the jail “in the black.”
Can we really do this? Yes! I know we can.
I was hired by the Fulton County Jail to be Program Director of substance abuse programs – programs that annually bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars to their jail and county. I was the first to successfully navigate the audit process and establish a licensed SAP in Fulton County.
And I am fully endorsed by Jailer Steven Williams in this race.
What I am saying is not pie-in-the-sky. It is being done there and it can be done here. Think about it: Fulton County is only one-sixth the size of Graves County but runs jail programs that produce hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. Yet, our jail flounders to pay for even the minimum types of improvements, benefits, and training our employees need.
How do they get this done in Fulton County?
They do it through smart and efficient management of financial incentives that pay the jail for running productive rehab programs. It’s that simple.
I know these programs in detail and I know how to run them well. And that’s the key – you have to manage and run them smartly. You can’t just give lip-service or run these programs on paper or make a halfhearted effort. If these programs are run correctly, you can support your jail. You can earn the money to make the jail a place of excellence and not rely on local taxpayer money. No excuses.
But this is not the whole story in getting the job done. Voters should and must demand a better management process and accountability at our jail, which includes complete responsibility on spending, and abidance with state rules across the board.
Our jail should not show major deficiencies and non-compliances as recently released state jail audits have shown.
It is not enough for the jailer to say I can’t overcome these problems because these were the faults of the previous administration, or I don’t have the space or the time or for whatever reason. When we needed space in Fulton County, we made it; when we needed time, we found it. The jailer needs to work hard; he needs to be there, he needs to show up, he or she needs to lead. I am asking the voters to give me that chance. The current jailer has had four years and that is plenty enough time to at least show some results and exceptional audits.
Second, I plan to fight hard to ensure we get another jail built and one built of which our county can be proud. While that decision is mainly in the hands of the fiscal court, you have a voice, and I plan to ask for your help in ensuring this will happen.
As you know, there are many good reasons why we should build a new jail, not the least of which is a ninety percent FEMA Public Assistance Grant, and a 4.8 percent matching state grant, making a new facility almost ninety-five percent funded – an opportunity we will probably never have again.
In short, I strongly believe we should build and manage a first-class jail, and not a transient holding facility.
Third, it is no secret that the crime trends in this country and this state are going the wrong way. The very programs that provide us precious operating revenues also give some inmates a chance to break the cycle of drug dependency and crime. And equally importantly, we need to recruit, support and partner with our local pastoral leaders to participate – to the maximum extent possible – in faith-based outreach for our inmates. I plan to do so in earnest.
In saying this, I pledge that our jail will maintain maximum safety and security for our staff, the community, and the inmates themselves. It is a careful and critical balance that can and should be done.
I have spoken with many of the jailers in our region and some key individuals who have been totally supportive of my plans and ambitions for our jail and community. You can see my endorsements on my website.
Last, if I’m elected, I plan to create a Graves County Jail Advisory Board to assist us – our community team - and promote additional ideas and opportunities for our jail.
So please match my credentials up against the other candidates and consider my path forward for change of which our county can be proud. I respectfully ask you for your vote on November 8 to be your next jailer.
Addendum:
Neither of my opponents took the time or demonstrated the appropriate seriousness in this election to show up at this forum. This is, at least, the second time one of the candidates for jailer has failed to show and present his platform and plan to move the county forward. This is not only disrespectful of the civic-minded organizers and the many attendees of these events, but also to our voters, who deserve the maximum information in which to make an informed decision. To run for this office, I contend you need to demonstrate some related experience and some education to do the job of jailer. Saying you want this job because you “always wanted to be in law enforcement” is not a recipe for success or confidence. And, more so, if you have been in this job for four years, you should demonstrate humility to speak with voters and to answer questions the community wants to ask.
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