JUVENILE CENTER EXPANSION DISCUSSED

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County commissioners told Randy Rhodes and Lance Tollison to start dreaming of ways to expand the county's juvenile detention center.

Commissioners met Thursday with Rhodes and Tollison, the county's juvenile officer and administrator of the juvenile detention center, respectively.

County officials have been concerned for some time with finding more room to house juvenile offenders. That situation is confined to the 32nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties.

"We get calls from all over" for bed space, Rhodes told commissioners.

In the meantime, the state is looking at the possibility of creating regional juvenile detention centers with the capacity to serve several jurisdictions.

Cost of housing a juvenile at the Cape Girardeau County center is $45 a day. Costs are increasing, and some centers in the St. Louis area are charging upwards of $70 a day, Tollison said.

Given those two circumstances, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said, "Do we need to think about ourselves and our judicial circuit, or do we need to think bigger and income?"

"We need to think bigger and income," Rhodes replied.

"If we were to wave a magic wand for a juvenile center that would operate at a profit, how many beds would you want?" asked Commissioner Joe Gambill.

A facility with 20 to 25 beds paid for by other jurisdictions could generate about $100,000 a year, Rhodes said.

But, he said, the county will have to balance its own need for more beds against the cost of a larger facility. As occupancy by local offenders rises, the potential for income will fall, he said, and the county's operational costs will increase.

The facility probably wouldn't operate at a profit, but fees for housing juveniles from outside the judicial circuit could offset as much as half the costs of operating the center, Tollison said.

Jones and Gambill suggested Rhodes and Tollison consider how the center, which has eight beds, could be expanded.

Updating the cellblock would not be cost-effective because of new standards for locks, lighting and other security features, Rhodes said. But that area could be renovated for offices and an addition built to house offenders.

Commissioners and juvenile court officials will meet next week to "brainstorm" about possibilities.

Cape Girardeau County will be represented at a May 24 public hearing in Sikeston. The Juvenile Court Personnel Advisory Commission will be looking for input on a variety of issues, including regional detention centers and increasing reimbursement to counties for detention services.

That could signal that more state funds will be available to expand or upgrade detention facilities, Rhodes said, adding:"I'm not giving up on more state money."