Youth Center Defends Deal With Tribe

Sat., Dec. 27, 1997

Associated Press

It costs Nez Perce, Lewis, Idaho, Clearwater and Latah counties $150 per day when they send juvenile offenders to a regional detention center in Lewiston.

The Nez Perce Indian Tribe is paying $80 per day under a one-year contract. Officials of some of the five counties want to know why there’s such a big difference.

It’s a negotiated rate, said J.R. Van Tassel, chairman of the Nez Perce County Commission.

The center went $100,000 into the red after the Juvenile Corrections Act of 1995 changed how courts and probation officers deal with juvenile offenders. That resulted in fewer offenders being placed in juvenile detention.

Nez Perce County runs the center. The agreement covering the facility says the county can contract with other entities, if there is available space.

Van Tassel said the complaints surprised him. There was no reaction when the center agreed to take youths from Washington’s Walla Walla County at $120 per day, he said.

County commissioners asked for a detailed financial report to be ready for the next scheduled meeting in January.

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Youth Center Defends Deal With Tribe

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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