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Washington County juvenile detention report: 22 intakes in June, six minors charged with possessing handguns
Summary
Director Tinsley told the County Services Committee that the juvenile detention center logged 22 intakes for June 2025, with six incidents classified as minor-in-possession of a handgun. Committee members pressed staff on how youths obtained firearms and on gang involvement.
At a Washington County Quorum Court County Services Committee meeting, Juvenile Detention Director Tinsley reported that the juvenile detention center recorded 22 intakes for the 26-day period covered in the June 2025 monthly report, with an average length of stay of 24.93 days and an average daily population of 8.71.
The highest single intake category was “minor in possession of a handgun,” which Tinsley said numbered six for the month. “Yes, sir. There were several this month. School is out. That doesn't make an excuse for that,” Tinsley said when Justice Rivera Lopez asked whether the incidents were isolated. “Those were six incidents.”
The report said the 22 intakes included youths from Washington and Madison counties, with 16 coming from division 3 and six from division 8. The juvenile detention center performed six transports during the reporting period.
Committee members questioned how youths were obtaining weapons. Tinsley said firearms are often stolen or sold among youths on social media: “A lot of times they're stolen… these kids sell them on social media to each other.” He and others on the committee discussed an additional concern that older gang members recruit juveniles because juveniles often face lesser sentences. “We see that a lot in this area,” Tinsley said. “The high ranking gang members will recruit these younger kids, and these younger kids will go out and do things… the punishment is not as severe.”
Committee members and Tinsley described local prevention efforts. Tinsley said detention staff try to engage youth in supervised activities during the summer—examples included a boxing club, kayaking trips and community service—to offer alternatives to street activity. Justice Rivera Lopez and others discussed Benton County’s “Youth Matters” framework as an example of a gang-intervention approach used nearby.
Why it matters: Committee members said the incidents and the detention population implicate public-safety and juvenile-rehabilitation strategies during the summer months, when school-based supervision is reduced. The committee asked staff to continue outreach and rehabilitation programming and to report on trends in subsequent monthly updates.
The juvenile detention report was submitted as informational business; there was no committee vote attached to the report.
