Jackson Free Press

MCCOMB, Miss. (AP) — Faced with the possibility of a lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Pike County supervisors voted Tuesday to shut down the county juvenile detention center effective Feb. 11.

Supervisors said they will make efforts to let the center's 13 employees work elsewhere for the county, while juvenile offenders will be taken to the juvenile center in Adams County.

"There have been a lot of allegations made by SPLC as far as neglect and abuse of juveniles at the facility," said Supervisor Chuck Lambert. "To date we have not received any documentation or evidence regarding those claims."

County administrator Andrew Alford said, "We're closing it because of noncompliance of the facilities and because of pending litigation, on the advice of our attorney."

In October, SPLC officials inspected the center, located in the former McComb city jail, and found numerous instances where it was out of compliance with federal standards. Bringing the old facility up to those standards would cost far more than the county can afford, Alford said.

A new center alone could cost millions — estimates range from $3 million to $5 million — and supervisors would still have to add employees, programs and services.

"We can't afford to build a building that would meet their criteria," said Supervisor Gary Honea.

Supervisors voted to give Sheriff Mark Shepherd the responsibility of transporting juveniles to Adams County. After the initial incarceration, town police departments would be responsible for their own juveniles, while the sheriff's office would continue to transport youths from the county.

Juvenile center director Ronnie Pierce will stay on until he can close out the center, then work for the sheriff's department. His duties will include overseeing the transport of juveniles.

Pierce said the juvenile center typically holds 35 to 40 youths a month, about a third of them from Pike County. The rest come from other counties, which pay Pike County a fee. Those counties will now have to send their juveniles elsewhere.

Juvenile detention centers are located in Adams, Hinds, Rankin and Forrest counties.

The Pike center will revert to the city of McComb, unless city and county officials work out an arrangement for the county to use it for other purposes, said board attorney Wayne Dowdy.

Supervisors agreed to increase the sheriff's budget to pay for transporting and housing juveniles in Adams County. That will include two new vehicles and additional officers, Alford said.

The juvenile center has 10 guards, all of whom may apply to work at the sheriff's office. The other employees may apply for county jobs as well.

Dowdy said supervisors had no choice but to close the center.

"In my opinion we cannot hope to prevail in a federal lawsuit defending the facilities," he said.

The building was constructed in 1967 as a jail and later renovated and enlarged as a juvenile detention center, officials said.

McComb Police Chief Greg Martin said he had expected the closure, and he realizes the police department will have to transport its juvenile offenders to other facilities after their initial incarceration.

"We did that once before and it was a big expense on the city, and I imagine it'll be a big expense on the city again.

"If the facility closes, it doesn't mean the juveniles having issues and having problems will stop," Martin said. "We'll still have those same problems with juveniles behaving badly. It will require personnel being tied up for hours."

As for adding vehicles and officers to handle the additional duties, "that may be something we have to look at in the future," Martin said.

Youth Court Judge John Price said he will look into alternative methods of dealing with juveniles as well, such as electronic ankle bracelets.

"I agree with the supervisors that the center has to be closed down, both because of the condition of the building and because of the extra money and programs that we would have to provide, even if we had a new building.

"The cost would probably be prohibitive. But it's going to cause a problem because I'm not going to be able to deal with kids on the same basis I have been," Price said.

Price said he hopes to use an electronic monitoring program for less serious offenders, which would mean fewer youths incarcerated.

"The main thing is that the children are properly supervised and the public is properly protected," Price said.