A letter from a state representative has rekindled the debate over whether McHenry County needs a $7.5 million juvenile detention facility.
At issue is whether juvenile offenders should be housed separately from adult prisoners.
In a July 12 letter to Donna Schaefer, chairwoman of the McHenry County Board’s Law and Justice Committee, state Rep. Cal Skinner (R-Crystal Lake) reiterated his belief that available unused space in the county should be used to house juvenile offenders instead of building a facility.
County officials are preparing to construct a 50,000-square-foot juvenile detention facility on 17 acres along Ware Road in Woodstock, although the architectural plans are being revised and the county has not decided how it will fund the facility.
Expressing concern about taxpayers’ money, Skinner said he wants the county to consider using the third floor of the County Jail, which is empty and unused, or renovating the old jail in the McHenry County Government Center to house juvenile offenders.
In either scenario, juveniles would have some proximity or contact with adult prisoners. State and federal laws that have been in place for more than a century call for “sight and sound separation” between the two groups.
Yet in his letter, Skinner wrote that legislators are making headway in modifying strict jailhouse separation laws, which could pave the way for using “already-paid-for” facilities.
If the law is loosened, it may allow for juveniles to share facilities with adult prisoners if they do not have physical contact.
“I certainly don’t want kids where they can have physical contact with adult male prisoners,” Skinner said. “But, if we used the third floor, the youths would be able to see the men through a window while they are both getting booked. I don’t think that would bother them.”
The notion of housing juveniles with hardened adult criminals angers children’s advocates, court employees and county officials who believe in keeping the two groups separate.
“If you mix juveniles with adult prisoners, what you’ll have is a worse juvenile offender,” said Phillip Ulmer, director of court services. “I don’t know why Rep. Skinner is bringing this up now. But I know what our needs are, and that is to put a juvenile detention home in McHenry County.”
Schaefer, who distributed Skinner’s letter to committee members Thursday, said if laws change, the County Board may have to consider adopting a philosophy on the issue.
After reading the letter, committee members said they were baffled why Skinner would concern himself with the detention facility.
“I think it’s wasted space, too, but I have a garage that’s wasted space, but I’m not going to sleep in it because it’s not an appropriate place,” Schaefer said. “Sure, if we want to put (juveniles) NM1 in jail and throw away the key and not let them have a recreation area, then maybe we could do it.”
Ulmer said the county expects to pay $200,000 in detention costs this year. Without a juvenile facility, county officials are forced to transfer youths to out-of-county facilities and pay to have them housed.
There are 10 McHenry County youths in detention Thursday. On Monday, a McHenry County Juvenile Court judge had to release a girl to get a more serious offender into a facility.
There were no available spaces in the state, said Susan Krause, executive director of the McHenry County Youth Service Bureau.
The old jail, built in 1972, is crumbling and virtually unusable, Ulmer said. A study last year revealed that renovating it would cost more than $1 million and that it could house only 12 juveniles with no outdoor recreation area.
