Commissioners remain undecided on consultant issue

JACKSON, Mo. -- The future of juvenile detention in Cape Girardeau County remains uncertain as county commissioners struggle over whether to hire a Chicago consultant to assess juvenile department needs.

John Grimm, presiding circuit judge in the 32nd Judicial Circuit, urged the commission on Monday to hire consultant Bobbie Huskey.

Grimm said the commission needs to act quickly to obtain federal grant money from the state that would pay half the cost of the consulting work.

If the commission doesn't act before the end of September, the county might have to apply for a new grant, Grimm said. "My concern is that it will put back to square one," he said.

But commissioners Joe Gambill and Larry Bock questioned the price and scope of the work, saying it might not be necessary to spend nearly $61,000 for a study. Gerald Jones, presiding commissioner, was out of town.

"To tell you the truth, I can't make heads nor tails out of it," Gambill said.

Bock said the commission doesn't need lengthy plans. He said the commission wants to know two things: How many juvenile detention cells will be needed over the next 10 years and what the alternatives are to locking up juvenile offenders.

Gambill said he doesn't know when the commission will act on the issue.

Grimm said the county would be out only $30,000 if the commission acts in time to get the grant money.

He also told commissioners that the consulting work is worth the cost should the county ever build a new juvenile center. "I think it is a significant expense now, but I think it can save a lot of expense, heartache and headaches down the road," he said.

Juvenile authorities had pushed for construction of a $4.3 million, 38-bed detention center, although Randy Rhodes, chief juvenile officer, says that figure was never set in stone.

Concern over finances

Commissioners have said they can't afford to build such a center. Even a 20-bed center could cost an estimated $2.7 million, county officials said earlier this year.

Hiring a consultant was viewed as a way to resolve the impasse that led to the budget dispute between the circuit court and the county commission.

But so far, Cape Girardeau County commissioners have been unwilling to sign a contract.

The commissioners have debated the merits of whether to hire Huskey & Associates Inc. since April. The commission, on a 2 to 1 vote, agreed to hire the firm in late May. Bock voted against it.

Despite the vote, the commission never signed the contract and in June commissioners put the consulting issue on hold in the wake of a state ruling that no need exists for a new detention center in Cape Girardeau.

The Missouri Judicial Finance Commission, however, said that Perry, Bollinger and Cape Girardeau counties must provide $470,726 a year for juvenile operations in the three-county circuit or more than double the $157,100 that had been allocated for juvenile operations.

Juvenile officers and judges have pushed for a new juvenile detention center to replace the 27-year-old, 10-bed unit in Cape Girardeau.

The county commission two years ago bought nine acres of land in an industrial area west of South Kingshighway as a site for a planned detention center. But soon after the commission put the brakes on the project, questioning the need to build a new center.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123