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Brown County expands juvenile home detention with electronic monitoring, officials say
Summary
Brown County Community Corrections reported using home detention with electronic monitoring since April as an alternative to juvenile detention (5 juveniles, 63 combined days), charging commissioners $7 per day; staff and law-enforcement members flagged transport burdens and bed scarcity in nearby counties.
The Director of Brown County Community Corrections reported the county has used home detention with electronic monitoring as an alternative to juvenile detention since April, placing five juveniles on the program for a combined 63 days. "From April to today, we've had a total of 5 juveniles that have been placed on home detention, with electronic monitoring ... for a total of 63 days," the Director said.
The Director told the advisory board commissioners were billed $7 per day for juveniles on the program, totaling $441 for the 63 days. "If you take the average cost of a day in detention ... roughly $200 and times that by 63, that cost would have been $12,600," the Director said, framing the program as a cost-saving alternative when detention beds are unavailable.
Probation staff and other board members described the practical limits of the approach when local detention beds are full. The probation officer said out-of-county placements commonly include Vigo County (Terre Haute), Johnson County and Bartholomew County and occasionally require travel of up to two hours one way. "It's nearly impossible sometimes to get a bed, and it boils down to who will take the juvenile," the probation officer said.
An agency official raised concerns about which agency is responsible for transporting juveniles to distant facilities, saying the travel burden and staffing impacts were substantial. The Director replied that juveniles on Brown County supervision remain under Brown County jurisdiction, which contributes to why Brown County staff have been involved in transports; the board agreed to discuss the specific instance further.
Board members also discussed options to reduce risk when juveniles (or adults) have alcohol use concerns. The probation officer said commercial ignition interlock devices must be court-ordered and can be costly, while lower-cost remote breath-testing programs tied to a verified phone app could be explored as a community-corrections option. The Director and staff said such measures would require judicial approval and funding decisions.
No formal policy change or board vote on the juvenile program occurred at the meeting; the Director reported the commissioners already had approved the $7-a-day payment for monitored juveniles. The board plans further discussion of transport responsibilities and potential monitoring options.
