Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
The fight over juvenile detention costs may be over.
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed a bill (SB 1322) intended to end the battle between the state and several Florida counties over juvenile detention costs.
The measure was sponsored by state Sen. Jack Latvala and state Rep. Chris Latvala, and is meant to ends a years-long dispute over how juvenile detention costs should be paid.
“Florida’s juvenile arrest rate is at a more than 30-year low and our juvenile justice system leads the nation in prevention measures for our youth,” said Scott in a Tuesday statement. “I am proud to sign this legislation today.”
The new law requires counties that aren’t fiscally constrained — usually affluent, urban areas — to pay $42.5 million for detention costs in fiscal 2016-17. The state picks up the tab for the remaining costs.
In the years that follow, those counties and the state would split the costs 50-50.
The state would continue to pay for detention facilities in fiscally constrained counties, usually poorer or rural areas.
Several counties sued the state in recent years over what they say was over billing of up to $140 million for juvenile detention costs.
The suits came after a 2009 cost-sharing agreement began to cause problems. The counties involved in the suit agreed to drop their cases in return for the bill’s passage.
The proposal was backed by the Florida Association of Counties.
“Hundreds of county commissioners, the entire state legislature and the Governor came together to ensure this bill became law,” said Barbara Sharief, the president of the Florida Association of Counties and Broward County’s vice mayor.
“This is an example of the powerful work that can be done when state and county officials work together to serve the greater good of our communities and this state.”
