Growing Out of Juvenile Detention Center
By:
Updated: April 17, 2007
The Juvenille Detention Center is having trouble keeping up with the growth.
Right now the facility has 17 beds, and the Centers director says this is not enough, since just this past weekend 22 juveniles were at the facility. When they exceed the number of beds they have available they sometimes are forced to put a juvenile into a locked hallway or send them to another county.
Benton County has only had a Juvenile Center since 2000. Before, the facility was an adult jail. There are many factors according to the centers director, Dennis Cottrel, which spurs their need for a new facility, "the growing community, gang activity and drug use, all these are factors"
This Thursday the director of the Benton County Juvenile Center plans on meeting with the planning commission to discuss buying a new facility. He says expanding their current facility wouldn`t be very economical because of the way its built. The new building they are proposing will cost around six million dollars. The new facility would house 36 beds and have the ability to expand to 50.
Juveniles on average stay at the facility for seven days, but are allowed to stay up to 90.
