MERIDIAN — In the early 1970s, Lauderdale County Youth Court Judge H.C. Watkins envisioned a home for juvenile offenders that would provide a nurturing environment and teach minors about the dangers of drugs and crime.
The juvenile detention center that bears his name was one of its kind in Mississippi. It opened in July 1975.
More than 30 years later, the center looks as if it has been frozen in time. The decor, paint, chairs in the waiting room and even the refrigerator in the employee break room have not changed.
For 10 years, at least, grand juries that have inspected the facility have told county supervisors something must be done about the conditions. One grand jury in 2002 likened it to a kennel — and almost everyone agrees much work needs to be done to make the center safer and more functional.
Youth Court Judge Frank Coleman oversees the juvenile center. It is managed by Barbara Vinzant, who declined to be interviewed for this report.
The center houses minors who have committed crimes. The maximum stay is 21 days, and offenders are sometimes as young as 8 years old.
Changes ... for the worse
Coleman said he can think of only a few changes or improvements that have been made at the center since he was elected youth court judge 20 years ago.
Among the changes Coleman has been forced to make are removing wooden bunk beds and the doors on the cells, and replacing them with metal beds and doors made of jail cell bars.
“The kids started tearing the wood beds apart and using the splinters as weapons,” Coleman said. “They would take the light bulbs out of the light fixtures and try to use them as weapons, so I did away with all of it.”
Coleman has done away with a lot of things at the juvenile center, including exercise time for the inmates. He said he did it because the teens either got into fights with each other, or tried to escape, while they were supposed to be exercising.
“I had a basketball court out there but they’ve managed to tear the goals down, and they’ve managed to climb up the walls and get on the roof and jump off,” he said. “So, I had to put up a chain link fence with razor wire around it.”
Crowded conditions
Inside the juvenile center, it is obvious there is not enough space. A counselor is crammed into what used to be the employee break room, two court clerks are crammed into one office surrounded by a mountain of files and paperwork — and three or four inmates sometimes have to share a tiny, two-bed cell.
But what is more startling than the conditions at the juvenile center is that the inmates — mostly teenagers who have allegedly committed felonies like possession and sale of drugs, burglary and assault — are kept inside their cells 24 hours a day.
They receive no exercise, no counseling and no educational instruction, all of which are required by state law.
Coleman said the county has passed on several opportunities to use federal grant money to build a new juvenile center or to expand the current one. He estimated a new center would cost between $4 million and $6 million.
And, Coleman said, the center does not rank high on the county supervisors’ list of priorities.
“We lost a lot of opportunities to be able to fund a new facility because of their failure to take any action,” he said. “My priorities are these kids. I am looking for something to get done and I’ve gotten tired.”
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Juvenile center frozen in time
Judge Coleman says changes don’t rank high on county budget priority list
- Local News
-
-
Local law enforcement officials honored
State Rep. Greg Snowden said he remembered as a child looking up to those "men in blue."
He said police officers in uniform were larger than life, riding in their patrol cars and carrying guns to protect and serve the population. Today, he said he is still in great admiration of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day so that citizens can feel safe. -
MPD probes vehicle crash
Evidence of a mother's desperate attempt to save her children from harm were spread all over a car lot — and could be seen on her as well in the form of bruises, cuts and scrapes.
Tuesday night, a vehicle with three children inside crashed through a plate glass showroom floor window damaging four new cars and totaling the vehicle the children were in. -
Skeleton found in residence
Members of the forensics team of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) were called to a dilapidated home in Chunky to probe the discovery of a skeleton.
-
Police search for robbery suspects
Two men who reportedly robbed a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of a local bank are still being sought.
Mike Vick, public information officer with the Meridian Police Department, said the two men approached a woman about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the ATM of Regions Bank on North Hills Street. Vick said one of the suspects was armed with a handgun and after taking an undetermined amount of cash and the victim's car keys, the two suspects fled on foot. -
City cuts payment to Watkins
The Meridian City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to cut their monthly payment to David Watkins, project developer of Meridian's new police station, by $9,999 until work resumes on the project.
The order, made during the Meridian City Council meeting Tuesday morning, included a mutual agreement between the councilmen and Watkins to reduce the project developer's monthly consultant fee of $10,000 to $1, effective Tuesday. -
Crews work on gasoline pipeline
If you hear a loud, booming sound early today, between 4 a.m.-10 a.m., there is no cause for alarm.
Workers with Plantation Pipeline will be performing maintenance work on their 30-foot gasoline pipeline in the Meridian area to accommodate the widening of Highway 493. The location of the work activity will be at Highway 493 North and Oak Hill Baptist Church, just inside the city limits. -
Team Spirit
-
High Honor
The flowers and balloons Crestwood Elementary School Principal Kimberly Kendrick received at school Monday were not an early Valentines' Day gift.
Kendrick has been named Meridian Public School District's 2012 Administrator of the Year – an announcement that both surprised and wowed the 17-year veteran educator when made by MPSD Superintendent Dr. Alvin Taylor. -
Master Dance Class
-
Digital system promises better communication
Hopefully in the near future you won't hear someone in the emergency services ask over the radio, "Can you hear me now?"
A digital communications system, one which is being pushed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is a few months away and, in some cases, is already in the testing phase in Lauderdale County. - More Local News Headlines
-
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
