S.F. County to close juvenile detention center
Facility will be used to house adult inmates quarantined over coronavirus pandemic
Four juvenile inmates are housed in the facility Santa Fe County spokeswoman Carmelina Hart said.
Santa Fe County will close its juvenile detention center and house underage inmates at the San Juan County facility near Farmington.
The moves, approved Tuesday by the Santa Fe County Commission, are expected to save the county about $1.7 million a year.
“That is significant any time. It is even more significant given the economic emergency caused by efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19,” county officials wrote in a memo to commissioners.
The county plans to use the juvenile detention center to house adult inmates who are being isolated or quarantined for the novel coronavirus, according to the memo.
Four juvenile inmates are housed in the facility — three from Santa Fe County and one from Rio Arriba County, Santa Fe County spokeswoman Carmelina Hart said.
Eleven union employees at the facility will be affected by the closure. They will be given offers for other county positions, and those who decline the offers will be laid off, according to the memo.
“The County currently has enough vacancies to offer each affected employee a job. In some cases, the vacant job pays more than the employee is currently making. In other cases, the vacant position may pay less. But everyone who wants to continue working for the County will have the opportunity to do so,” the memo states.
Commissioners in January directed county staff to develop a closure plan for the juvenile detention center, citing a decline in the number of bookings, rising maintenance costs and growing liability risks.
In fiscal year 2017, the center held 357 youth, which fell to 293 in fiscal year 2019. More out-of-county youth than county residents were held in the facility in fiscal year 2019.
County officials have said it would take an investment of more than $9 million to keep the aging facility running.