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Commission hears report on juvenile facility funding; Jetson Center and regional projects cited
Summary
Representative Marcus Bryant briefed the commission on disbursements from a juvenile facilities fund, including $19 million to Jetson Center for Youth and multi-million-dollar awards to regional facility projects.
Representative Marcus Bryant told the Juvenile Justice Reform Advisory Commission that the first disbursements from a fund to renovate or build regional juvenile facilities have been made and that the awards are intended to keep youth closer to home and preserve access to education and family.
Bryant said the Jetson Center for Youth has received $19 million from the juvenile facilities fund; the facility previously received $21 million through capital outlay, leaving an estimated $5–7 million still needed to complete the project. Bryant said Central Louisiana’s regional center in Rapides Parish received approximately $37.9 million and that River Parishes received $36 million — each award was made after applicants were scored on education, medical treatment and mental health capacity. He said 18 applicants applied and several did not meet the fund’s criteria.
Bryant also described a $1.3 million award for upgrades to a dormitory work‑release program (plus $145,000 from other sources) and said a separate $5 million appropriation has been committed to build a unified criminal justice record system for clerks and law enforcement across the state. He described one regional proposal in Acadiana with an estimated construction cost of about $104 million; that project has not yet identified local operating funding, which Bryant said is a common hurdle for applicants.
Bryant said the commission fund distributed roughly $99,906,680 in the round described to commission members; he told the commission lawmakers passed a vote to maintain and look to replenish the fund in the next legislative session.
No formal action was taken on the report; commissioners asked questions about local funding commitments and the grading criteria used to allocate awards.
