Riverside County to pay $540,000 in suit over youth offenders' fees

Riverside County has agreed to pay $540,000 to families who a lawsuit alleges were illegally charged fees for detained youths in the criminal justice system.

The settlement ends a lawsuit filed in 2020 over a now-defunct fee that paid for juvenile offenders' clothing, food and health care. The plaintiffs' lawyers argued the fee was especially burdensome on lowincome families, who were pursued by debt collectors when they couldn't pay.

“The county's practices have had a devastating effect on families,” Michael Harris, an attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, said in a statement released this month.

“This settlement will offer those families meaningful relief and deter Riverside County and other jurisdictions from illegally assessing and collecting money from struggling families,” added Harris, whose center represented the plaintiffs along with the Western Center on Law & Poverty.

Riverside County Chief Probation Officer Rob Miller said via email that the county is pleased to have settled the case.

“It's important to note that the county took proactive steps in April 2020 to waive $4.1 million in outstanding juvenile detention fees and stopped collecting on those fees entirely,” Miller wrote. “The Probation Department will continue the positive work we do to provide for the needs of youth and their families”

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of two Riverside County families with children or grandchildren in the juvenile justice system, argued that the county broke state law by imposing the fees, which came out to thousands of dollars, before a judge could determine whether the families could afford to pay them.

State law enacted in 2017 abolished the fee, but the county continued to turn unpaid fees over for collection, the lawsuit alleged.

Families who think they're eligible for money from the settlement can call 833-472-1997 or visit riversidejuvenilefees.com.

The settlement is scheduled to be finalized in May.