BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials are starting to explore expanding the county's juvenile detention center.
County Judge Barry Moehring recently told justices of the peace about a proposal to add up to 12 beds to the center. Moehring didn't have the cost of the project, but said he plans to include it in the 2024 budget. There is no plan to seek an additional tax to pay for it.
Holly Foster, director of the center, said the facility's numbers fluctuate, and the center consistently has several youths come in over the weekend, causing the head count to rise.
"Those new residents will go to court, most will be able to leave and our head count goes back down," Foster said, adding the facility needs to be prepared for those flare-ups with more beds.
The center has been averaging 12 youths per day for the past couple of years, Foster said.
The facility, which opened in 2012, has 17 rooms with five of the rooms being double-bunked, so it can hold up to 22 youths, she said.
The were 16 residents being held as of Wednesday, Foster said.
She said more separations come with the higher numbers because boys and girls are held separately as are youths arrested in connection with the same criminal offenses. There are times the offender and a victim, who is also facing charges, are held in the facility, and they must be held separately, Foster said.
Six of the youths in the center are being held on adult charges. The average length of stay for a youth held as a juvenile is 10.9 days, while the average length for those held as adults is 84.5 days, Foster said.
Once an adult-charged youth turns 18, they are held in the county jail, Foster said.
She said an increase in youths being charged as adults has led to longer stays in the juvenile center.
Benton County Circuit Judge Tom Smith, who presides over juvenile court, said he has not yet been involved in the expansion discussions. Smith said the center has been running at higher numbers over the past 12 to 16 months.
"I do believe if gun crimes continue to rise more juveniles will be charged as adults, which leads to longer stays waiting trial and raises a need for more space," Smith said.
Foster said several of the county's youths have been sentenced to the state's Division of Youth Services and there's a one- to two-month waiting period for youths to be transferred, which also leads to longer stays in the center.
The center lost 14 beds when it converted an area to a shelter. Foster said there are three youths in the shelter and it can hold up to eight.
The shelter has one out-of-county resident while the center has two, Foster said. The shelter doesn't charge for out-of-county holds, but the center charges $75 per day for out-of-county and Division of Youth Services holds, she said.
Justice of the Peace Joel Edwards said he's waiting to hear more information on the project.
Washington County voters rejected a proposal last year to issue up to $113.5 million in bonds to expand the Washington County Jail and up to $28.5 million in bonds for a Juvenile Justice Center expansion. The bonds would have been paid by a 0.25% sales tax that would expire once the bonds were paid.