Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Juvenile Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chief juvenile probation officer says county must expand monitoring and staff after 708 intakes in 2025
Summary
Emily Klein told commissioners St. Clair County juvenile court handled 708 intakes in 2025 and asked the board to approve a $10,000 Repath monitoring contract and to fund two full‑time clerical positions to manage intakes and dockets; commissioners approved the monitoring contract and agreed to consider staffing and funding at the next work session.
Emily Klein, the county’s chief juvenile probation officer, told the commission the juvenile court processed 708 intakes in 2025 — 494 in Pell City and 214 in Asheville — and described persistent placement and staffing problems in the county.
"For the year of 2025, juvenile court of Saint Clair County did 708 intakes," Klein said, explaining that limited detention capacity and staffing shortages have left the office stretched thin.
Klein said local detention options are constrained and the county relies on placements at Coosa Valley, which has a reported 47 beds and has often been full. She told commissioners a young person had been at Coosa Valley for more than 262 days while waiting for an appropriate placement.
To expand supervision options for youth in the community, Klein described a proposed contract with APOC Solutions for the Repath monitoring platform, which offers GPS check‑ins, location tracking and facial recognition features for supervised juveniles. Discussion at the meeting covered whether the county needed a bid process, the department’s existing experience using Repath for the juvenile drug court, and attorney review of contract language. After motion and second, commissioners approved the request to proceed with the Repath arrangement subject to county attorney review.
Klein also requested two full‑time clerical positions (one for the Asheville office and one for Pell City) to ensure continuous office coverage while probation officers are in the field and on court dockets. She said the roles would be funded from the juvenile court fund (Fund 106) and noted a current fund balance of about $250,000 and typical annual revenue of roughly $70,000 from supervision fees and court dockets.
Commissioners and staff discussed pay and benefits. Klein said the administrative assistant position was discussed at $17 per hour with retirement and benefits included; commissioners asked staff to explore whether the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) could reimburse the county or otherwise alter the pay/benefit arrangement. The commission agreed to take the staffing request to the next work session for additional cost information and for AOC/HR follow‑up.
Why it matters: Commissioners heard that high intake volumes, limited detention beds and gaps in administrative coverage are driving the court to seek both technological supervision tools and additional staff to maintain court operations and revenue collection from pay‑review dockets.
What happens next: The commission approved the Repath contract subject to attorney review and asked administration and AOC staff to return with a staffing and reimbursement recommendation at the next work session.
