Due to the decreasing number of juvenile offenders combined with rising operational costs, Sante Fe County Commissioners want to shut down the Santa Fe County Juvenile Detention Facility.
The Associated Press reports that the number of youths held in the facility has fallen from 357 in 2017 to less than 300 last year. The number is only that high, commissioners say, because the facility accepts detained youth from other counties.
In fact, most of the youth held there last year were from outside of Santa Fe County, the commission reports. While the county does get paid $230 per day to house out-of-county detainees, that money is only a fraction of the cost to keep the center running.
Commissioners say closing the juvenile detention center would save taxpayers more than $1.8 million a year, money that could be better set to other uses.
If the Santa Fe facility closes, the county will rely on one of five other state-wide centers to house incarcerated or detained youth. They are located in Bernalillo, Curry, Dona Ana, Lea and San Juan counties. The closest and most cost-effective option would be Bernalillo county, the commissioners said.
“I think the numbers speak for themselves,” Commissioner Anna Hamilton told the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper. “It only makes sense to pursue a closure plan.”
Across the state, local counties spent more than $18.5 million on juvenile detention last year. But most of that cost was covered by the six counties where the centers operate. Statewide, a working group is also studying the issue to make it more equitable for taxpayers.
No final decision has been made, but the commission is asking the facility's employees to begin creating a closure plan.
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