prison overcrowding

The sweeping Republican-backed crime bill could lead to more incarceration, which could bring problems for many Kentucky jails that are already overcrowded with people in state custody.

Kentucky has some of the highest incarceration rates in the country. But state lawmakers ignored most efforts to address the issue and its root causes, instead passing measures that are likely to worsen overcrowding in jails and prisons.

State prisons are at capacity, county jails are overcrowded and the state is recommending transferring about 1,600 inmates to private prisons that have…