The Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center asked the county commissioners court for $60 million for a facilities expansion Tuesday afternoon.
The court met in a workshop following its regular weekly meeting where officials from various county departments presented funding requests for the county's fiscal year 2018-19 budget. The largest request came from the juvenile detention center.
“I understand this is a big ask, but I promise this is the right thing to do at the right time,” said Scott Matthew, the county's juvenile services director.
Matthew said that while juvenile crime rates are not increasing in Williamson County, area population growth is on the rise, which means more kids will flood into the county's juvenile system that is already barely scraping by financially.
The current facility, located at 200 Wilco Way, Georgetown, was built in 2001, with the intention of needing an expansion within 15 years of its opening, Matthew said.
The center has managed to operate without expansion, but Matthew said he feels the expansion is needed now, especially with the county seeing a quickly growing population as well as a possible state legislative adult-age change that would qualify 18-year-olds instead of 17-year-olds as adults for criminal justice purposes.
The expansion would have three phases with the $60 million going toward the first phase. The first expansion would include more bed space — to better separate the kids by age, education level and risk factors, among other factors — a recreation space, more offices and code updates to the current structure.
The expansion would allow the detention center to operate through 2035 without the need for additional growth, Matthew said.
“Having to house kids that should not be housed together or treat kids that should not be treated together; you just need one lawsuit to make up for that $60 million,” Matthew said.
Other capital requests
- The county's Department of Information Technology Services requested nearly $8 million for technology upgrades, including public safety department vehicle technology and body and dashboard cameras as well as a possible upgrade to software used by county officials.
- The Department of Emergency Services would like to see at least three new ambulance stations, and the Parks Department would like to build protective facilities for maintenance equipment, among others.
- The Department of Infrastructure had a lengthy request list involving several departments in the county, including a new administration building that will have an estimated bill of $30 million; a shoot house, driving track and skid pad for the county sheriff’s department at $2.5 million; and audio and visual updates for the county and district courts at $1.3 million.
The court plans to have action items on the requests during its June 19 meeting.
