By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Top Photo: District Judge Ben Baxley requested, and received, additional bed space for juvenile offenders from the Elmore County Commission Monday. (EAN photo by Sarah Stephens)
District Judge Ben Baxley addressed the Elmore County Commission Monday, explaining that bed space is severely limited when it comes to juvenile offenders.
Currently, there are only three beds available for all of Elmore County when it comes to housing juvenile offenders. However, the Commission agreed to enter into an additional contract for housing juvenile offenders on an as needed basis.
“When I came on the bench in May, it took me a little bit to get my feet under me,” Baxley said. “But as time has progressed, I have taken an inventory of where we are as a juvenile court and how we stack up against other juvenile courts in our state.”
He said one of the major jobs of what his office does is to impose accountability on juveniles. When they are not accountable, that has to be addressed, and at times that includes detaining the offender in a juvenile facility.
“There are many mechanisms to do that, including community service, additional assignments, additional reporting, drug treatment or whatever the case may be. When those juveniles do not meet those accountability requirements, the ultimate sanction is detention. We currently have three detention beds available under contract for us at the Montgomery Juvenile Detention facility.”
Baxley said if you take the population of Elmore County, which is now over 90,000, and compare it to comparable counties in the state, Elmore is woefully behind.
“Statistically, we should have seven detention beds available to us. We currently only have three,” he said.
Autauga County, which is also in the 19th Judicial Circuit, has roughly 15,000 people less than Elmore. They have four beds.
“This poses a tremendous obstacle for me as the judge, to impose accountability when I just don’t have places to put people when they deserve to go.”
Baxley requested approval for additional bed space, and his office presented the commission a proposed contract with the Lee County Youth Detention Center which would provide additional beds on an as needed basis.
“We would only pay for the bed if we needed it. That would free up some additional bed space in those occasions when it becomes absolutely necessary,” he said. “I think this should be a priority for the juvenile court, and I hope it is a priority for you.”
Commission Chairman Bart Mercer thanked Judge Baxley for the information, as well as what he and his office do for Elmore County. Later in the meeting, every commission voted in favor of approving the contract for additional bed space on an as needed basis.
“This is for sure one of those needs directly associated with a growth in our population,” Mercer said. “There is not an over abundance of these beds around. We appreciate the hard work you all have done to identify this bed space and bring this agreement to us.”
Commissioner Dennis Hill, who is a former law enforcement official, said, “I just want to let the Commission know how important (additional beds) will be for the juvenile court system. I remember working the streets when I was out there working. As soon as everybody started finding out that they may be a juvenile, but they can be locked up, it changed their whole attitude. Once one was locked up, word got out quickly that you do not want to play around and get locked up in our juvenile detention. I know how important (additional beds) is, and I hope we can find some more. We are definitely going to need them as our county grows.”
