Juvenile justice details explained by judge

NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) - An Adams County judge says elected officials missed important details last week during budget discussions.

Youth Court Judge John Hudson tells The Natchez Democrat (https://bit.ly/1oIThJq ) that officials weren’t looking at true costs when they compared the operational expenses of the county’s juvenile justice center to the costs incurred in Pike County.

During the discussion with Hudson about the cost of the juvenile justice center, the supervisors asked the judge why Pike County was able to budget only $150,000 for juvenile detention.

The projected budget for the Adams County juvenile system is $589,000.

Pike County closed its own juvenile justice center in early 2013 and now pays to send its juveniles to the Adams County facility.

Hudson said after investigation that number was reflective of a budget for housing only, and did not include the cost of transportation, liability coverage and personnel.

The county supervisors are working on their 2014-2015 fiscal year budget.

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Information from: The Natchez Democrat, https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/