Judge says Allegheny County Council lawsuit over Shuman Detention Center can proceed

A judge will allow a lawsuit filed by Allegheny County Council last year over the reopening of the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center to move forward.

The lawsuit was filed after then-Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, along with county court leaders, announced a new contract with Latrobe-based Adelphoi to reopen the shuttered detention center.

County council, however, argued that that the executive had no right to enter into the contract without council approval. Because it was never put to a vote, council’s lawsuit claims the $73 million contract is void. The county, though argued the five-year contract was for services, which fall under the executive branch.

During oral arguments earlier this month, the solicitor for council called that argument a red herring, alleging that because Adelphoi would have complete control of the Shuman property in Lincoln-Lemington, Adelphoi would not just be providing services.

Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Katherine Emery, who heard the case after Allegheny County’s former president judge recused the entire bench, agreed the contract went beyond providing services.

“The contract literally gives Shuman Center to Adelphoi to operate a detention facility,” Judge Emery wrote in her March 14 ruling.

Council’s arguments center on a specific clause within the county’s charter that dictates council has the authority to “by ordinance, lease convey, vacate or abandon, or permit the use of county land, buildings or other real or personal property.”

County solicitors say council is misinterpreting that piece of the charter.

Judge Emery wrote that while any contract for services is the responsibility of the county executive, when contracts include the transfer of county-owned property, council must also approve it.

The Adelphoi contract, worth $73.2 million over five years, runs from Sept. 8, 2023, to Sept. 7, 2028, with an option to extend the agreement for an additional five years. The facility was set to undergo some $4.7 million in renovations.

The center, which opened in 1974, was built to house up to 120 juveniles. Its operating license was revoked by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services in August 2021.

At the time, the facility was on its fourth provisional license, which are issued when violations are discovered and meant to act as a stopgap while violations are corrected.

Since the facility shut down in 2021, juveniles who would have otherwise been detained and held at Shuman are being held at the county jail or, more often, released to a guardian or sent to juvenile facilities in other counties.