Bonner County justice-services update: fewer arrests but rising acute youth mental-health cases

J.D. Storm, liaison for the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, told the Bonner County Board of Commissioners on the county—s annual justice-services update that overall youth arrests and court petitions fell in 2024, but detention staff handled a higher share of acute mental-health cases.

"In 2024, there were 83 youth arrests. That's down 38 compared to last year," Storm said, and added that detention admissions for Bonner County youth were 124 in 2024, "down 35 from 2023." He told commissioners that the drop in petitions does not necessarily indicate fewer youth in the system because some low-level incidents are handled as probation violations rather than new charges.

The report and subsequent discussion focused on mental-health needs among youth in custody. Storm and detention staff described repeated episodes in which the facility—s two observation cells were full, forcing staff to place young people on constant observation in general housing: "We had to have…