JUVENILE CENTER: COUNTY PLAN WOULD CENTRALIZE SERVICES

The Cape Girardeau County Commission and local juvenile officers hope to unify a now scattered juvenile system into one facility.

The commission proposes building a new juvenile justice center to house a secure detention area, juvenile court, juvenile department employees and an alternative school.

A design consultant's report must be completed before an accurate cost estimate for the project can be determined. However, Presiding County Commissioner Gerald Jones said the center should cost $2.5 million to $3 million.

"That depends on what we can get with the money available," Jones said. "There will be no tax increase."

The center will house offenders ages 12 through 17 from the state's 32nd Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties.

No timetable for construction has been set.

The county has a contract on a 10-acre parcel of land in the 2100 block of Locust Street in Cape Girardeau, a largely industrial area of town off South Kingshighway. James and Amy Stovall currently own the tract.

"It was one of the few places we could find that does not have any homes nearby," Jones said.

"Even though we currently have a juvenile detention center right there in the middle of town on Merriwether Street, it seems like when you're building a new facility, nobody wants it in their neighborhood."

Several hurdles have to be cleared before the county purchases the land. Among those are approval of a special use permit by the city and positive results from environmental and engineering site tests.

The city's Planning and Zoning Commission has already approved a special use permit for the site. The City Council will consider the matter in December.

Jones doesn't expect any problems.

Randy Rhodes, the chief juvenile officer for the circuit, said juvenile facilities are fairly costly because of the special equipment needed for cells and holding facilities.

Jones said the building will not resemble a prison with high fences and razor wire surrounding the property.

"You won't know it's a juvenile justice center," Jones said. "We fully intend to make that property look like a park area."

However, Rhodes said that inside the center will look exactly like what it is -- a secure facility for criminal offenders.

Construction and operation will be funded by county funds that will become available under a new state law.

House Bill 971, signed into law earlier this year, will put juvenile justice employees, who are currently paid by the counties in which they work, on the state payroll as of July 1, 1999.

However, the law also requires counties to use money currently allocated for those salaries for other juvenile justice purposes, including building or upgrading facilities.

The three counties in the 32nd Judicial Circuit share costs for the circuit's operation. Each county's share is based on population. Cape Girardeau County is responsible for 69 percent of the burden, with Perry and Bollinger counties paying 19 and 12 percent respectively.

Jones said Cape Girardeau County will likely purchase the land and pay for the center's construction, with the other counties chipping in.

Plans call for the center to have at least 24 cells, with room for expansion to 40 cells if needed in the future.

Rhodes said expansion needs to be considered during the planning stages.

"The problem with a lot of facilities around the state is they are not built with expansion in mind," Rhodes said.

The existing, eight-bed juvenile detention center, located at 325 Merriwether, was built in the early 1970s. The increase in referrals of violent youthful offenders in recent years has rendered the center obsolete.

The existing center, which occupies about two acres, could be expanded, but there would be problems, Rhodes said, including increased law enforcement traffic in a quiet, residential neighborhood.

Plus, Rhodes said, it would be a short term fix.

"The main reason we are not looking at the present facility is that while it could be expanded once, it couldn't be expanded again," he said.

The new facility, like the existing one, will be for juveniles awaiting trial, not for those serving extended sentences. While the average stay is seven days, a typical stay is two days.

About six or seven youths are housed at the facility at any given time. There would be more, Rhodes said, but because of the age of the facility, cells are often out of commission.

Only youths who are accused of serious felonies, such as weapons charges, first degree robbery, assault, sex offenses and distribution of drugs, are detained.

Currently, detained youths have to be transported to the Common Pleas Courthouse on Lorimier Street or to the County Courthouse in Jackson for hearings.

Rhodes said transportation poses security risks and incurs financial costs that will be eliminated by the new center, which will include a courtroom.

All juvenile justice services, including officers, probation officials, counselors and support staff, will be housed in the new center.

"It will be more efficient and better all around," Jones said.

The center will also house an alternative school for youths suspended or expelled under the Safe Schools Act.

"Rather than staying at home, they will be assigned to the alternative school at the detention center," Rhodes said.

The school will differ from existing area alternative schools that primarily serve dropouts, not kids with continuing discipline problems.

A school connected to a detention facility could awaken some students to the seriousness of their situation, Rhodes said.

"Usually that carries a little more impact than if the school is off-site," he said. "It's just a short walk to intake."

Rhodes said he and the county commission have been considering a new juvenile center for several years and that now the time is right.

"It could have been built before, but without some of the knowledge we've gained in the last three to five years," Rhodes said.