County juvenile office works to address detention space needs

By Chris Fortune

The Buchanan County juvenile detention center has operated at or near capacity for over a year, and an official from the juvenile office is working to address the needs.

Fifth Circuit Chief Juvenile Officer Linda Meyer visited the county commissioners to discuss detention space in September. There are currently six beds in the secure detention facility at 4702 Green Acres Road.

“If we don’t have the bed space, then we either have to reach out to another detention center that’s in the state of Missouri to see if they will accept youth, or we have to release on a detention alternative,” Meyer said.

Detention alternatives include in-home detention and electronic monitoring, but needing to resort to one of these alternatives means they are not in a secure facility.

“We just want to make sure that we’re protecting the community,” she said. “But because we have a limited number of secured detention beds, sometimes it’s difficult.”

While it has been difficult to make detention space for juveniles, Buchanan County has seen a decrease in the number of offenses submitted to the juvenile office. However, the number of cases with serious offenses has increased.

“We’ve seen an increase in homicide-level offenses, robbery-type offenses, those higher-level felonies, Meyer said.”

Meyer said the lack of detention space for juveniles is a statewide issue. In Missouri, if a youth is certified to stand trial as an adult, they are still required to stay in a juvenile facility until they are 18, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

“It’s a regular thing for me to get phone calls from across the state because there’s chief juvenile officers that need a detention bed and no one has any available,” she said.

Meyer said Buchanan County has one of the smallest juvenile detention facilities in the state. The county is currently in early discussions for a new or remodeled law enforcement center. If a new law enforcement center is built, the current building could serve as the new juvenile detention facility.

“I analyzed and based on some of what our data shows,” she said. “16 beds, I think, would definitely be an improvement. 24 would be ideal.”