OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — In August the Douglas County Board voted to delaymoving juvenile detention to the new Youth and Family Support Center downtown. At the time, county commissioners expressed concerns about over-crowding at the new, 64-bed facility.
Data presented to the Justice Center Development Corporation by Deputy County Administrator Kim Hawekotte on Thursday shows the population in the current youth facility ranged between 65 and 85 residents since January.
”This is really the youth that were in detention on Sept. 12 of 2023: we had 75 youth in detention, one was from another jurisdiction, 24 of the youth were on adult court charges and 50 of them were on juvenile court charges,” said Hawekotte.
The Douglas County board wants to see occupancy of the current youth detention center drop to a maximum of 55 residents for a period of six months before transitioning to the new youth center.
Commissioner Mary Ann Borgeson told 3 News Now that the county is only responsible for housing the detained youth and it is working with other entities in the juvenile justice system to move youth out of detention more quickly.
SEE MORE: Douglas County Board considers delaying move to new Douglas County Youth Center over capacity issues
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