Judges order less crowding at juvenile facilities

Friday, April 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The judges said cramped conditions at Washoe County's Wittenberg Hall and the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center are a safety hazard for youths and staff alike.

Additionally, the orders said holding youths for 60 to 90 days before transferring them to state custody amounts to a "denial of due process and is a violation of the constitutional rights" of children.

The county facilities are designed as short-term holding areas where juvenile offenders are held until their case is determined by a judge.

On Thursday, Wittenberg's population was 15 percent above capacity, while the Clark County facility was housing nearly twice the number of juveniles it was designed to hold, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported. Seventy-one youths in Clark County and 10 from Washoe County were awaiting transfer to state custody.

Charlotte Crawford, head of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the state will ask lawmakers next week for an emergency appropriation of $547,000 for the two counties.

Additionally, she said about $4 million for juvenile justice programs will be added to Gov. Bob Miller's budget request for the next two years.

But some judges and officials say the proposal doesn't go far enough.

"The orders need to be taken in their entirety as addressing a very serious constitutional problem," said Clark County Juvenile Judge Terrance Marren. "Quite frankly, I think we all understand that the counties especially have been hurt financially, but the compelling issue is the kids."

The orders were signed by Marren, fellow Clark County District Court Judges Robert Gaston and Myron Leavitt and Washoe District Court Judge Charles McGee, Scott Jordan and Mills Lane.

Crawford said officials hoped to open up 37 more beds immediately by designating some beds at an existing facility in Elko for state custody juveniles and contracting for others at a privately-run program based in Minden.

Another 60 beds would be available in three years if the legislature approves plans for a new facility at Indian Springs.

But juvenile authorities said that plan does little to ease immediate problems.

"If, hypothetically, Clark County were to get all 37 beds, I would still have 34 kids waiting for bed space in state facilities," said Kirby Burgess, Clark County Family and Youth Services director.

"This is not something the court initiated," said Judge McGee in Reno. "We've been working with the (state) on this issue. But it came time that the court put the bellows to the fire, so to speak.

"What I'm worried about is that the state must recognize that historically it has always owned the responsibility for providing dispositional facilities for juveniles," he said. "If the problem has grown, then they own the larger problem, at least until some other plan is developed between the state and the counties."