Mecklenburg County transforms existing detention center into one just for juveniles
A new juvenile detention center in Mecklenburg County will begin operations on Wednesday, established to accommodate the increased number of minors who will be tried in juvenile court.
Under the state’s “Raise the Age” law, which went into effect in December, most 16- and 17-year-olds charged with crimes will not automatically be sent to adult court. North Carolina was the last state in the country to adopt such a change and has been preparing to adjust to the law for two years.
“The implementation of it hasn’t been easy,” said Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather. “The big question for all of us in the criminal justice system was how we would appropriately house our juvenile population that unfortunately will see the inside of the criminal justice system.”
The law is meant to give young defendants better access to counseling, medical and rehabilitative help and keep their names and crimes confidential.
In preparation, the Mecklenburg County’s North Detention Center, also known as Jail North, was chosen to become the Mecklenburg County Juvenile Detention Center to help house juvenile defendants from across the state, said N.C. Deputy Secretary of Juvenile Justice William Lassiter.
The Mecklenburg facility was an obvious choice for a new juvenile detention center, he said, since it already had a “youthful offender” housing unit, a high school and a variety of vocational and mental health programs.
“We have always been in the business of taking care of the juveniles in Mecklenburg County,” Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden said.
A Mecklenburg facility also will keep Charlotte defendants closer to where they live and will be tried in court, Lassiter said. He said Mecklenburg residents make up a significant portion of juvenile defendants.
“We wanted to make sure that that population got stay closer to home so they could be connected with their community resources,” Lassiter said.
As of its opening, the facility will have 32 beds available — with one-fourth allocated for females. Eventually, the capacity will expand to 72 beds and the facility will accept those who are younger than 16 years old. For now, those younger than 16 years old will be held in Cabarrus County, according to the Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office.
The average stay in juvenile detention center is 17 days, Lassiter said. However, minors who have been transferred to adult court tend to stay for six to nine months in juvenile detention centers, he said.
“I believe the Mecklenburg County Juvenile Detention Center can become a model program of how juveniles should be treated when in secure custody,” Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks said in a press release.
