Valley County approves Ada County juvenile detention contract as daily rate rises

Valley County commissioners voted to approve an agreement with Ada County to continue using Ada County’s juvenile detention facility, a contract county staff said must be finalized before the current agreement expires Sept. 30.

Court services department head Jacques Lafay told commissioners the per-day rate to house a juvenile in the Ada County facility increased from $236 to $296, a $60 daily rise that Lafay attributed in part to higher costs for drug, alcohol and mental-health counseling and programming at the facility. Lafay said the county used $9,676 under the fiscal 2025 contract and has budgeted $35,000 for the year, which the county estimates would cover about 116 detention days.

The contract prompted discussion about alternatives and cost control. Lafay said the county has sought to limit use of detention where possible and has used community-based supervision, including GPS-enabled house arrest for juveniles, at a reported fee of $7 per day; he said two juveniles were currently on GPS supervision. Lafay also noted that the county’s juvenile caseload and the length of individual detentions can vary — he said one juvenile held under the prior year’s cases spent about 30 days in custody — and that charges for detained youths in the prior year included burglary and malicious injury to property.

Commissioners moved, seconded and approved the agreement. County staff noted the urgency: the existing agreement expires Sept. 30 and needed to be on the agenda because of the deadline.

The contract does not create a local detention facility; Lafay said staff believe using Ada County’s facility remains less expensive than building and staffing a local juvenile detention center.

What the county will pay under the new per-day rate and how often the county will need to use detention could affect future budgets; commissioners did not amend the county’s current detention budget at the meeting.

Votes at a glance: - Motion: “Approve the agreement between Valley County and Ada County for juvenile detention” (mover: unidentified commissioner; second: unidentified commissioner). Outcome: approved unanimously. County staff said the contract must be executed before Sept. 30.

Background: The county’s court services office recommended continuation of the agreement after reviewing last year’s usage and program costs. Staff emphasized the county’s use of alternatives to detention where appropriate.