New juvenile center nears completion, proves 'good fit,' officials say

A nearly completed juvenile center has found a home in a 10,000-square-foot building in a commercial area of Cape Girardeau.

"It is a good fit," said Randy Rhodes, chief juvenile officer for the 32nd judicial circuit of Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties.

The new center will include a 900-square-foot courtroom where juvenile cases will be heard. The judge's bench and pews have been placed in the courtroom, along with attorneys' tables. A large video monitor hangs on a wall. It will allow the judge to interact with jailed, juvenile offenders without having to bring them to the juvenile center.

Two conference rooms border a hallway that leads into the courtroom. The conference rooms provide privacy for attorneys to meet with their juvenile clients and family members.

"There will be more room there," said Associate Circuit Judge Scott Lipke, who hears juvenile cases.

Norman Ticer with Cape Girardeau County Building and Grounds uses a diamond grinder on the cement floor at the nearly completed juvenile center Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.Glenn Landberg

Rhodes said the new center will eliminate the need to hear juvenile cases in the Common Pleas Courthouse where there are crowded conditions and a lack of privacy that has adult and juvenile offenders in close proximity to each other. The courthouse has no secure area to separate juvenile victims or offenders.

The new juvenile center resolves that problem.

"It is just a more efficient setup," Rhodes said.

A colorful, painted mural of jungle animals decorates a wall for a children's play space in the family waiting area. Handicapped-accessible bathrooms are next to the waiting area. A $20,000 grant helped pay for the family-friendly area.

People will enter the waiting area through a metal detector. The facility also has 18 security cameras that cover both inside and outside areas of the building.

A look at the 900-square-foot courtroom in the nearly completed juvenile center Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.Glenn Landberg

Cape Girardeau County Second District Associate Commissioner Charles Herbst said much of the renovation work has been done by county crews.

On Tuesday, Cape Girardeau County employees were hard at work in the back of the building, diamond-grinding the concrete floor in a spacious, light-filled room that will house juvenile officers. They also were finishing a separate area that will house diversion programs, including a demonstration kitchen for cooking classes. Another diversion program teaches juvenile offenders the lifesaving skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Herbst said, "We bought very little furniture." Much of the furniture is surplus property from the federal government, he explained. Courtroom pews and other items were made by state prisoners, Herbst said.

The facility includes a locker room and shower for juvenile staff. Herbst said juvenile officers have to enter meth houses at times and it is important to have an area where officers can shower and change clothes after being around dangerous chemicals.

The facility includes a judge's chamber adjacent to the courtroom as well as office space for the attorney who serves as the prosecutor for juvenile cases.

Cape Girardeau County Second District Associate Commissioner Charles Herbst explains the layout of the nearly completed juvenile center Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.Glenn Landberg

Juvenile officers could be working out of the steel-framed, renovated building at 2137 Rust Ave. by July 1, Herbst and Rhodes said.

Rhodes said the state still has to install and hook up the computers for the state digital network before the juvenile office can operate out of the new facility.

While Cape Girardeau County is paying the bulk of the cost of the facility renovations, Bollinger and Perry counties share in the cost of juvenile services.

Herbst said the new center will consolidate juvenile operations at a single site. Currently, juvenile operations are housed in the Common Pleas Annex and in a building at 325 Merriwether St. in Cape Girardeau.

The new center will house a staff of some 20 employees, including 12 juvenile officers.

Rhodes said the new center is designed to eliminate "the old paper shuffle" by relying on digital records throughout the process.

Opening of the new juvenile center will culminate years of planning by officials to establish a new facility.

The county purchased the building and two-acre site on Rust Avenue for $505,000 in March 2015. Built in the 1990s, the structure previously served as the location of a broadcast-equipment supplier.

Herbst estimated renovations will end up costing about $200,000.

"It couldn't have been more perfect," Herbst said of the building. "It is awesome."

The large site has plenty of room for future expansion, if needed, he added.

The center will not have a detention unit. Juveniles who need to be in custody will continue to be housed in detention facilities in Mississippi and Stoddard counties.

Rhodes said his office handles about 1,200 juvenile referrals a year from police, social services and schools. But Rhodes said only about 40 juveniles a year in this judicial circuit are held in detention centers.

"In the past, we were locking up 300 to 400 kids a year," he noted.

Rhodes said he is excited about the new juvenile center.

"The county has made a real good move here," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

2137 Rust Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.