Kaufman County Commissioners Court on Jan. 14 heard a detailed concept presentation for a possible juvenile detention center, including projected bed needs, building program alternatives and preliminary cost ranges.

Tran Architects’ Andy Pitts summarized a months-long analysis of bookings, average length of stay and other population characteristics and told the court the county’s average daily population (ADP) in 2024 was about 7.23 children per day. When the consultants added youths who are released to guardians, those awaiting transport, youths on electronic monitoring and probation-violation holds, the ADP benchmark rose to about 10.12, Pitts said.

That baseline and county population projections drove planners’ facility-sizing scenarios. Using a peaking factor and a classification factor to allow for separation by gender, co-defendants and other classifications, the consultant said a long-range bed need could reach roughly 45 beds. The architects presented three options for a new facility — approximately 24, 32 and 40 beds — and corresponding building sizes: roughly 35,000 gross square feet for the smallest option, about 37,800 for the mid-size option and about 44,000 for the largest.

Pitts said project-cost estimates were developed from recent regional bids and local contractor input and include increased structural costs tied to soil conditions. He presented a combined hard- and soft-cost range that clustered “just shy of $40,000,000” for the smaller option and approached $50 million for the largest option, and said the project team is targeting roughly a $40 million limit. "What we would do going forward is be able to work ... to understand what is those programs, how can we maximize the bed space and still stay within those project costs going forward," Pitts told the court.

The presentation described program elements required by the Texas Juvenile Justice Division, including room-size and ratio requirements, secure intake and medical screening adjacent to intake, education and a juvenile-justice alternative education program (JJAEP) with three classrooms, indoor and outdoor recreation, visitation (secure and non-contact), and administrative and staff support spaces. The team said it applied trauma-informed design principles intended to reduce confrontations and provide calming treatment spaces.

Pitts described how housing could be organized in 8-bed pods (the state ratio discussed was 1 staff:8 youths in daytime and 1:16 at night), with flexible layouts to separate youths who do not get along while preserving staff-efficiency. He said the team factored in event-driven peaks (for example, multiple arrests on a weekend night) and classification needs when estimating total bed capacity.

Commissioners asked about operational costs and next steps. The architect said construction-size and cost work is the current focus; operational cost estimates will be developed later in coordination with county staff. Pitts recommended the next steps be: finalize target bed counts and a budget, develop operational-cost estimates with county staff, and prepare materials the county could use if it pursues a referendum or other funding avenue.

No formal action was taken on the project during the Jan. 14 meeting; the presentation was introduced for study and follow-up work.

Ending: The commission directed staff to continue work with the architect and return with finalized bed numbers, budgets and operational-cost information for future consideration.