Will County officials weigh options for River Valley juvenile detention center after cost briefing

Will County court services and detention leaders briefed the Capital Improvements Committee on services and fiscal costs for the River Valley Juvenile Detention Center and discussed possible steps if the county were to relocate or close the facility.

Chris Watkins, director of court services, and Shannon McCormick, superintendent of the River Valley Detention Center, told the committee that the facility provides on-site medical, psychiatric and psychological services, educational programs in coordination with Joliet Township High School District 204, and in-house substance-abuse and psychological evaluations for Will County residents.

McCormick reported that the facility’s functioning capacity is between 66 and 86 residents and that the average daily population over recent fiscal years ran about 20 residents. For fiscal year 2024, presenters said total operating costs before reimbursements were about $6.5 million; reimbursements (including salary reimbursements for juvenile detention officers from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, Illinois State Board of Education funds for education services, and out-of-county revenue) totaled just under $4 million. Presenters stated the net cost to Will County for fiscal year 2024 was approximately $2.6 million.

The presentation included a modeled scenario for one year of outplacement if River Valley were closed and Will County residents were housed in other counties. Presenters used a per-diem bed cost range of $150 to $250 per day (for bed space only) and estimated bed-space costs of about $1.8 million for roughly 20 residents at a $250 daily rate. They added estimates of about $700,000 for admissions and intake staffing and about $200,000 for mental-health evaluations, producing a combined illustrative first-year cost of roughly $2.2 million for housing about 20 residents off-site. Presenters also estimated additional court-transport and hearing-related travel costs of roughly $350,000 to $360,000 annually, though they described that number as difficult to predict because it depends on where youth would be housed.

"That cost would be $2,200,000, and that would just be for 1 year for housing about 20 residents at another facility other than River Valley," McCormick said, summarizing the modeled estimate.

Committee members asked whether the county could instead consolidate juvenile housing into existing space at the Will County Jail. Speakers noted a legal and regulatory complication: state law and standards typically require juvenile detention spaces to be sight-and-sound separated from adult detention. Committee members requested staff analysis of whether county jail space could be used, what legal changes or waivers would be necessary, and what the actual cost and operational implications would be if the county pursued consolidation.

Watkins and McCormick said they would engage oversight agencies, including the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and the Administrative Office that handles salary reimbursements, to present the concept and assess compliance and funding consequences. They reported a scheduled meeting with a standards compliance official from the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice to gauge feasibility.

Committee discussion included the possibility of pursuing a legislative change to allow consolidated use of jail space for juveniles but acknowledged that any law change and operational transition could take years. Multiple members asked staff to return with an analysis comparing the county’s current River Valley operations to a consolidation scenario that used existing jail space, including likely cost savings, staffing implications and legal requirements. No formal decision was made during the meeting.

The county also received regular requests from other jurisdictions to house out-of-county youth and reported recent admissions from neighboring counties; staff noted that accepting outside residents can generate revenue but is not a dependable revenue stream.

Next steps: staff will meet with state oversight agencies and prepare a comparative analysis of consolidation options, costs and legal/operational barriers for the committee’s future consideration.