Potential expansion for Buchanan County juvenile justice center
By Chris Fortune
Buchanan County, Missouri, leaders are exploring the possibility of building an addition to the county’s juvenile justice center, addressing the need for more space.
The Buchanan County Commissioners discussed what an expansion at the Judge Frank D. Connett Jr. Juvenile Justice Center, which is attached to the Judge Patrick K. Robb Academy (formerly known as the Buchanan County Academy) at 4702 Green Acres Rd., would look like and what it would cost during their meeting last week.
Missouri Court System’s Fifth Circuit Court Juvenile Officer Linda Meyer, attended the Commissioners’ meeting on Friday, Dec. 20, to provide input and discuss the need for about 18 additional beds in the county’s juvenile justice center, which currently has only six beds.
“Now it’s up to the architects or the designers to go out, look at the facility, and say, ‘Okay, this is what it could look like,’” Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner Scott Nelson said. “But more importantly, what is the cost? Got to know that.”
Officials also discussed a new or remodeled law enforcement center this past September. At the time, Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett said if a new law enforcement center was built, the current building could serve as the new juvenile justice center.
Presiding Commissioner Nelson favors expanding the current juvenile justice center as long as it is cost-effective.
“This is about as straightforward as it gets,” he said. “We have a detention center, we have land, we have a building, we have expansion capability. It seems like the path of least resistance to me.”
After architects determine the design and cost of expanding the current juvenile justice center, the next step will be to calculate how long the construction will take.
“Are they going to come back the first time through with a drawing and a rendering and a cost and we’ll just go, ‘It looks good, fine,’ I doubt it,” Presiding Commissioner Nelson said. “We’re going to have to go back and forth, but at least we’ve started that process.”
