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Prosecutors and juvenile services warn staffing and statutes limit holding juveniles accountable
Summary
DA Neil Mlan and Department of Corrections officials told the council that prosecutor shortages, juvenile competency rules and limited detention options impede accountability; DOC staff described Long Creek services and $4.6M statewide community programming.
District Attorney Neil Mlan told Lewon council members that rising juvenile gun violence comes against a backdrop of heavy caseloads and a thin prosecutor roster. Mlan said his office handles about 3,250 active cases across three counties and is operating with far fewer prosecutors than comparable districts, a gap he said worsens when staff leave for higher pay elsewhere.
"Eight prosecutors for a district like this is impossible," Mlan said, urging the legislature to address pay parity so the office can hire and retain more prosecutors and create a dedicated juvenile prosecution capacity.
Mlan and councilors also discussed how juvenile competency findings — often involving "chronological immaturity" in evaluations — can pause criminal proceedings and affect later prosecutions. The DA urged a review of competency standards and courtroom procedures that he and others said can produce repeated short-term releases of youth who later reoffend.
Department of Corrections officials who followed explained how the juvenile system is structured: detained youth (pre-adjudication) and committed youth (sentenced) are processed differently; judges make competence determinations and have several statutory options when youth are found not competent (dismissal, DHS custody, or ordered DHS involvement). DOC representatives said they provide $4.6 million statewide for community programs in FY2026 and about $1.4 million for the region that includes Lewon. DOC described services at Long Creek (education, clinical stabilization, substance-use treatment, and targeted interventions) and said some detained youth have been provided services that later supported a judge’s finding of restored competence.
Councilors asked how long specialized services take to start and whether ankle-monitoring or other supervision could be expanded. DOC said a single assessment process is now used to determine eligibility for MST/FFT and wraparound services; the timeline and availability can vary by region. The DA and DOC both recommended legislative engagement to resolve statutory limits that constrain detention and detention-review processes.
Why it matters
Officials said the combination of accessible firearms, a small group of high-risk juveniles, limited prosecutor capacity, and statutory constraints produces recurring cycles where youth are released or diverted, then later reappear in violent incidents. Several presenters urged an integrated strategy: more prosecutors and pay parity, targeted community programming paid through state or settlement funds, and statutory changes that allow better short-term detention and supervision when the public-safety risk is high.
What officials will pursue
DA Mlan asked the council and public to pressure the state legislature for funding and pay-parity changes; DOC invited local leaders to pursue more community-program funding and to work with DOC’s contract managers to speed service placements. No formal district- or city-level policy changes were adopted at the meeting.
Representative quotes
"We need more prosecutors. It's as simple as that," said District Attorney Neil Mlan. "When I go to hire somebody and I tell them, 'Come work for me. I'll pay you much less and give you a much bigger case load,' nobody's all that interested."
