More Discussions Happening On The Camden County Juvenile Justice Center

The Camden County Commission is taking steps to correct some issues which are putting the juvenile justice center in the spotlight.

Stacy Roberts from the juvenile center says, with several centers shutting down and some new laws on the books in Missouri, the facility in Camden County will likely start to house more offenders.

“With the new laws on certification of juveniles raising the age to 17. Now, if we have a kid who’s certified as an adult and they’re 15, they could set in our facility for three years till they turn 18.”

First District Commissioner James Gohagan adds that another step in the right direction would be to raise the rates for offenders to be housed in Camden County.

“Here’s a simple fact, all these other counties have been kind of mooching off us for a long time. It happens with our road department. You guys are, you know, always getting hammered on to take care of their roads. And I’ve been saying this for a while, that these other counties take advantage of big brother.”

Currently, the juvenile justice center in Camdenton operates on a budget of around $280-thousand with annual revenues coming in around $200-thousand.

One other problem, although the building is described as structurally sound, the center needs well over one-hundred-thousand dollars worth of repairs and renovations.