Will County court services and River Valley Justice Center leaders told the Finance Committee on May 6 that the county faces a choice: invest to keep the juvenile detention center functioning as a juvenile facility, retrofit the adult detention center to hold youth, or house youth in other counties.

Superintendent Shannon McCormick and director Chris Watkins said the county currently operates River Valley Justice Center (juvenile courthouse and detention) and also receives some out‑of‑county revenue by housing youth from neighboring counties. McCormick summarized three options: (1) continue housing youth at River Valley with targeted repairs and upgrades; (2) move youth into the Will County Adult Detention Center, which would require a waiver from the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and extensive capital renovations to create sight‑and‑sound separation and separate courthouse circulation; or (3) place youth in other detention centers, which staff said is increasingly difficult because few centers can accept outside youth.

Facilities presented an initial, county‑staff estimate for building repairs across the Justice Center of about $1,300,000 with a typical contingency (presented as 30%) bringing the total near $1,700,000. Facilities items listed in the presentation included a full building automation system, upgrades to detention pod surfaces and showers (described as “shower epoxy” in the presentation), improvements to secure doors and airlocks, HVAC (chillers and boilers) work, kitchen equipment, roofing and gutter repairs, and a recommended body scanner to reduce contraband. Staff said a single body scanner order was estimated in the presentation in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars; committee members asked staff to supply firm quotes.

McCormick said that one immediate compliance issue with juvenile oversight requires expansion of contact visitation so the facility needs a physical visit area change; she said the county is “partial compliance” with current Department of Juvenile Justice standards and is preparing plans and cost quotes from the original architect to bring the space into full compliance. McCormick also said staff are pursuing more out‑of‑county placements (including discussions with Grundy and other counties) and working on Wi‑Fi upgrades so remote hearings can reduce transport burdens for distant counties.

The committee asked for more detailed financials. Presenters noted that some out‑of‑county per‑diem rates vary by contract (presentation cited Kankakee at $220.25 per day and DeKalb at $175 per day for juveniles); staff said the detention program is part of the county general fund and that the per‑diem revenue reduces but does not eliminate the county subsidy for operating costs. McCormick told the committee that the juvenile program is currently operating at much less than building capacity and that increasing the population would spread fixed costs over more beds.

Committee members repeatedly requested a precise cost‑per‑bed and a clearer accounting of the facility’s fixed annual operating cost so they can compare the financial outcomes of each option. Several members urged the county facilities and detention staff to produce a detailed cost analysis and firm bids or quotes from vendors and to coordinate further with county facilities staff to identify which repairs could be done in‑house to reduce cost. McCormick and Watkins said they would return with the requested cost breakdowns, firm vendor quotes and clarifications on staffing, reimbursement for sworn positions from the State, and any potential out‑of‑county agreements.

No policy decision or appropriation was made at the May 6 meeting; committee members asked for a more detailed package to review at the next finance committee meeting.