Wallowa County Juvenile Justice Director Nori Gregoire updated the board on capacity issues in Washington State youth facilities and local court services during the Jan. 6 meeting.

Gregoire said Green Hill School — the state facility that holds older adolescent residents — continues to operate over capacity, holding about 240 youth and young adults, roughly 33% over the facility’s planned capacity. She described the state’s “bubble” problem: moving some youth from Green Hill to new beds at a Department of Corrections site (Stafford Creek) would not immediately resolve overcrowding because other facilities (for example, Echo Glen) hold youth who would ordinarily transfer up the system.

Gregoire said the governor had recommended opening a 40‑bed unit at Stafford Creek and that there was pushback from advocacy groups about locating a juvenile unit in a state prison setting; she said the proposed arrangement would have staffing and food service provided separately by juvenile staff while meals would come from the prison kitchen. The director said the county has a limited number of local youth committed to DCYF facilities but remains attentive to the statewide impacts.

Locally, Gregoire reported on pretrial and reentry work: the county’s adult pretrial services officer has taken on electronic-home‑monitoring and urine‑analysis caseloads as a grant-funded position (with grant funding running through June 30), connecting people to services rather than operating purely as enforcement. She also described adult recovery court caseloads and upcoming graduations.

Gregoire told the board she would continue to update commissioners as state actions evolve because changes in the state system can affect local use of secure beds and services.