Richland County juvenile detention budget rises as staffing, capacity strain operations
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Summary
Juvenile court officials told Richland County commissioners that detention salaries are up about 11% year over year because part-time educator posts were converted to full time, Title I tutoring support is shrinking and recruitment has required higher starting pay; construction and a lost contract may force short-term transfers of youth.
Juvenile-court representatives told the Richland County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 13 that the detention budget will rise about 11% year over year, driven largely by education staffing changes and recruitment pressures.
"That's largely predicated on some additional positions that we added for teaching positions in detention," a juvenile-court staff member said during the board presentation, explaining the court converted a part-time instructor to full time and is requesting another full-time teacher to meet education requirements for detained youth. The court said it must educate youth "regardless of the reason they're in there," which increases staffing needs.
Officials also said Title I tutors the detention center had relied on are now restricted to Mansfield City Schools, reducing outside support and shifting roughly $90,000 in costs back onto county budgets. "Those funds are... drying up," the juvenile-court staff said, and the limitation on Title I usage has reduced available tutoring support.
Recruitment pressures have raised starting pay for detention officers from about $17 an hour to roughly $18.18–$18.50. "You advertise for that, and you just can't even get a response," the court representative said, adding the facility is experiencing an approximately 80% year-to-date turnover rate among detention officers.
The court also described infrastructure and operational issues. Court staff recommended purchasing a BIS digital amplification/recording system to address pervasive audio problems that affect courtroom hearings and the ability of transcriptionists to prepare accurate records for appeal, estimating roughly $62,000 for equipment plus an annual BIS software licensing fee of about $2,200. "We need to be able to hear," a commissioner said in response to the presentation.
Construction planned at the detention facility will be phased, officials said, and for a period the center—s capacity will fall (presentations cited a current population of 25'6 youths that could drop to about 13—4 during one phase). Staff said at least 20 of the current youths are charged with firearm offenses, which complicates placement decisions. The court said it may need to contract with a locked detention center elsewhere for the most serious cases and will perform individualized risk assessments to determine who must be retained.
Commissioners thanked court staff for the detailed briefing and asked staff to return with follow-up materials; the court said it would provide a guidebook and meet again to discuss family-stability services. No formal budget adoption occurred at the meeting; the presentation will inform the commissioners' upcoming budget decisions.
