Officials agree juvenile detention center is outdated, say no plans to replace it have been made since 2003

When the 32nd Judicial Circuit Juvenile Division submitted its proposed budget for the 2009 fiscal year, as with most years, it recommended the circuit judges and Cape Girardeau County Commission address the issue of replacing the 40-year-old juvenile detention facility.

The Cape Girardeau County Juvenile Detention Center at 325 Merriwether St., the oldest of its kind in the state, has been repeatedly deemed inadequate for housing youth offenders.

Though in agreement that an updated, more secure juvenile facility is needed, local officials say no plans have been made to consider its replacement since 2003, when plans for a new facility collapsed due to disagreements among commissioners, juvenile authorities and circuit judges.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said he was disappointed the issue couldn't be settled in 2003 and that if presented with a concrete plan for funding and designing an adequate facility, he would consider it.

"If we see a real good effort of cooperation, we will also cooperate," Jones said.

Detention Aid Andrew M. Green works Friday at the Cape Girardeau Juvenile Detention Center, where 16 cameras monitor activities around the center. The detention center was built in 1970 and is the oldest in Missouri.

Jones said he had supported the idea of the originally planned 20-bed, $2.8 million detention center in 2001.

Second District Commissioner Jay Purcell, who suggested using excess money accumulated from the juvenile division's yearly budget, more than $2 million, to fund the project, said he intends to address the matter during budget discussions.

Some improvements and repairs to make the existing structure more secure were budgeted and planned for this year, but the majority of problems with the 10-bed facility cannot realistically be addressed through renovations, said chief juvenile officer Randy Rhodes.

Rhodes said he intends to make do with the improvements as best he can, working in the constraints of the budget he is given.

Outdated facility

The juvenile detention center detains between 350 and 400 children ages 16 and under each year for offenses "ranging from murder to standing atop the riverwall," Rhodes said.

Because boys and girls cannot be safely housed together in the current facility, girls are currently transported to Mississippi County every time a boy must be detained in Cape Girardeau, removing them from proximity to their families and attorneys and costing the county travel expenses, Purcell said.

"I don't think there's any question we probably need a new juvenile center," Purcell said.

Severe-need male juveniles also should be housed in the existing facility on a long-term basis, as recommended by the county's insurance carrier and hired consultants, according to the nine-page 2009 budget plan.

"It was fine in the day when people were stealing hubcaps, but not for more serious offenses," said Cape Girardeau County Presiding Circuit Judge William L. Syler.

Among specific concerns addressed in last fiscal year's budget plan were inadequate ventilation, no way of separating violent from nonviolent offenders, inadequate drainage in the cell block, no holding cell, an unsecure control room that presents a danger to staff members and lack of a sprinkler system in the building.

The activity spaces and size of the building fail to meet standards outlined by the American Correctional Association or Missouri Supreme Court, and the shower area is not contained in the secure part of the building, creating an unsafe situation for both offenders and staff.

Once, Rhodes found a handgun an offender had stashed in the bathroom area while changing, he said.

This year, $95,000 was set aside for the construction of sally port that will provide a means of firearm control, and a safer way of transferring juveniles in and out of the facility, is in the works, Rhodes said.

Maintenance money

When state law transferred jurisdiction of juvenile division personnel to the state instead of the county, it dictated that each county in Missouri with a juvenile facility continue to allow a set amount of $470,726.72 each year to create a shared fiscal responsibility.

The unused portion of that maintenance-of-effort allowance since 2000 adds up to $2,039,680.70, averaging about half of the $470,726.72 each year.

That money is returned to the county's general revenue fund each year, as with other departments that have excess money left in the budget, Jones said.

Purcell said he would like to see some of the money put toward the cost of a new juvenile center, since the money was intended to be used for operating of the juvenile facilities.

Deciding what's needed

The $4.3 million, 38-bed facility in dispute several years ago is no longer needed, and any new facility would be much smaller, local officials said.

One of the stumbling blocks has been in deciding exactly what sort of facility is needed, Syler said.

The use of electronic monitoring and newer facilities in nearly every other judicial circuit means the need to house juvenile offenders is less than in previous years, though proposed legislation could potentially add some 17-year-olds to the juvenile division's jurisdiction, Rhodes said.

"It's not on the same scale as 10 years ago. It's scaled back quite a bit," Purcell said.

First District Commissioner Paul Koeper said he would like to know exactly how big a facility is needed and would like specific goals of the project outlined.

"If somebody could tell me that, I'd be willing to jump on the bandwagon," he said.

Koeper said once the issue of attempting to purchase the old federal courthouse on Broadway is settled, perhaps the commission can focus efforts on the juvenile facility.

Koeper added he would like to see the county hire an architect to draw up realistic plans for a new juvenile center, making the project "shovel ready" should stimulus money or other funding become available.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

325 Merriwether St., Cape Girardeau, MO