Minnehaha County hires consultant to assess juvenile detention center's future
Minnehaha County's Juvenile Detention Center is undergoing preliminary assessments and evaluations for potential expansion and re-modeling.
County commissioners approved a consulting agreement at a meeting Tuesday, between Bill Garnos and the county to provide a proposal assessing juvenile population trends and population projections. Garnos has completed several studies for the county on criminal justice and inmate population trends.
"This is the next step in our process toward evaluating the juvenile detention center and its future," said Tyler Klatt, Assistant Commission Administrative Officer for Minnehaha County.
The consulting agreement costs $5,760 and falls under a six-month contract the county has with Tegra for a "conceptual validation" study of the juvenile detention facility. Minnehaha County's contract with Tegra comes out to a total of $51,900.
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Under the contract, Tegra will act as the representative for Minnehaha County for a feasibility study including "project team assembly, coordinating benchmark tours, conceptual design process, existing building condition assessment, disruption avoidance planning, creating a master budget and schedule, and presenting a report of the findings."
The entire scope of the proposal by Garnos will include an assessment of the juvenile detention population trends and profile; development of the regional juvenile detention population projections; development of a forecast of juvenile detention capacity requirements, and then a final report to the commission.
Email human rights reporter Nicole Ki at nki@argusleader.com or follow on Twitter at @_nicoleki.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Minnehaha County brings consultant to assess detention center's future
