David Minge: “I rise today with regard to H.R. 1818, the Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1997. Recently I was…”

“I rise today with regard to H.R. 1818, the Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1997. Recently I was contacted by local officials from Lyon County, MN, who wish to build a juvenile detention center with four beds. Lyon County is a rural community in my district that is populated by approximately 25,211 people in 708 square miles with the closest metropolitan area, Minneapolis and St. Paul, located about 150 miles away. It is economically infeasible for Lyon County to build a juvenile detention center unless staff can be shared and the juvenile detention center can be co-located with the jail. Under current law, the sharing of staff between these two types of institutions is prohibited. The county officials have been frustrated by this law, because it is inefficient and costly for the county to hire individuals to deal solely with juvenile offenders, as the county rarely needs to house more than two juvenile as a time. Transporting juveniles to beds in other areas has also proven inefficient. It is estimated that Lyon County will spend about $50,000 in programming and transport costs to send minors to other detention centers in Minnesota next year. Lyon County sheriff deputies are known to spend up to 8 hours a day transporting juveniles from their proper facilities to court appearances, as these facilities can be as far as 188 miles away.”