Bourbon County looks at options in housing area juvenile offenders

By Brett Dalton

Herald-Tribune

Fort Scott, Kan. -- While Bourbon County and Southeast Kansas Regional Correction Center officials still ponder whether to remodel the current SEKRCC or build a new, off-site facility, they are now considering ways to house juveniles.

During Friday's county commission meeting, the question of turning the current jail site into a juvenile detention center, should a brand new jail be built elsewhere, was asked by commissioner Gary Houston to SEKRCC Supervisor Darrell Spencer.

"I don't see why we wouldn't be able to fix that up for that," Spencer said.

Currently, juveniles in custody are shipped to Girard to be detained in its juvenile center, which costs the county $140 per day, Southeast Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Center Director Jeffrey Leslie said.

Leslie said the SEKRJDC is changing how they charge counties Jan. 1, however. He said under the new system, counties would pay a set amount based on its previous 10 years' usage and it would be a percentage as applied to the center's annual budget.

According to county clerk Joanne Long, Bourbon County has spent around $19,000 of the budgeted $40,000 this year to house juveniles in Girard. However, the county spent more than $30,000 in recent years. Transporting juveniles back and forth also costs the county, Long said.

Being able to house juveniles within the county would eliminate those costs, which may offset the costs of creating and maintaining a Bourbon County juvenile detention center, Houston said.

Sheriff Harold Coleman said the number of juveniles shipped to Girard is not kept, but said he knows that it is an expensive process.

"It's a very expensive deal for everybody," Coleman said.

SEKRCC official Jimmy Nichols said he would support the creation of a juvenile center if it would save the county money.

"I think if it is cost-effective, it's a good idea," Nichols said. "It would create a few more jobs here in Bourbon County and save the tax payers money in the process."

Nichols said that the SEKRCC used to house inmates, but simply ran out of room.

"We just kind of out-grew it at the adult end of it," Nichols said. "It got to where we were overflowing."

Should the county decide to act on what is now just an idea, some of the current jail would still have to be worked on and remodeled, commissioner Bill Brittain said. However, Spencer said even with that remodeling cost, it could still save the county money.

"We'd still have room without having to refurbish too much of the facility and we'd still save money," Spencer said.

Commissioner Terry Graham said handling juveniles is different than handling adult inmates.

"There are a lot of stipulations you would have to look at," Graham said. "When you get into juveniles, you have to handle them a lot differently. We'd need to check into all the statutes and see what we'd have to do."

Spencer told commissioners he'd look into the matter.