Norah Greigwire, director of Juvenile Justice, told the Walla Walla County commissioners on June 2 that Senate Bill 5296 — which would require a judge to make an independent finding that a youth could not be maintained safely in the community before commitment — did not pass earlier this year but is expected to return. "It will have consequences for us here locally when we have a youth who shoots at someone or a particularly serious violent offense... that won't be automatic anymore," Greigwire said.

Greigwire also reviewed adult pretrial services data: the county’s 35 electronic monitoring (EM) cases generated about 6,500 "bed days" avoided, with an average EM length of stay of 186 days and an estimated EM program cost of about $23,000 at $3.60 per day. Of 35 EM clients reviewed, 12 had technical violations that generated 23 court hearings; judges remanded 16 of those hearings to custody, or about 70% of the time. Greigwire said national guidance cautions against overuse of electronic monitoring, but local data show EM has reduced custody days and helped judges avoid overcrowding.

On truancy and BECCA funding, Greigwire said anticipated state budget changes could cut the county's BECCA award from about $67,000 to roughly $16,000–$17,000 — a roughly 75% reduction — which would eliminate approximately 0.6 FTE juvenile probation capacity. She said she will present a proposal to the board later in the week that reallocates local resources to manage the reduction.