Tag: Texas Juvenile Justice Department

Tarrant County commissioners approved contracts with Collin County Juvenile Probation Department for additional space and programming as the waiting list to be transferred to the state for Tarrant County juveniles has grown.

The contracts were met with skepticism by some commissioners.

The court approved two separate contracts for pre-adjudication and post-adjudication for Tarrant County Juvenile Probation Department to use the programs and services in Collin County.

Commissioner Alisa Simmons voted against each contract while Commissioner Roderick Miles voted for the pre-adjudication contract — but he later said he should have voted against it — and voted against the post-adjudication contract.

The reason for the contracts is to have more flexibility in the future for more bed space but, ideally, not to have to use Collin County’s facilities, according to an email from 323rd Distrcit Court juvenile Judge Alex Kim, . Talks for the additional bed space began in early spring and summer Kim said in the email.

The contract comes after the Tarrant County Juvenile Board sent a letter last month to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department that was signed by 24 District Court judges and county Judge Tim O’Hare. The letter states that in the last six months, one-third of their detainees have been held waiting to be transferred to the state and many have been waiting for months. It asks for the state to pick up those on the waiting list as it will “deny them their opportunity for rehabilitation.”

The Tarrant County detention center has a capacity of 128 beds and is often at overcapacity.

A letter from Shandra Carter, executive director of Texas Juvenile Justice Department, dated Oct. 3, and sent to Tarrant County officials, says they “remain committed to improving transfer timelines to better serve counties across the state.” The Texas Juvenile Justice Department has recently worked with stakeholders on priority transfers and pre-transfer processes, safely maximizing the use of state facilities, and constructing new facilities near population centers, among other initiatives, Carter wrote.

The letter stated as a result of these efforts, TJJD admitted over 550 youth into state secure facilities during fiscal year 2025 and “15% of these youth — the highest number among all juvenile probation departments — were from Tarrant County.” In September 2025, 25% of admitted youth were from Tarrant County, the letter stated.

Adjudication is the process where a court determines if a youth has committed a crime they have been charged with. In pre-adjudication a youth may be in detention or under supervision, while post-adjudication a youth will be on probation, home placement or another consequence.

According to a records request from Texas Juvenile Justice Department, Tarrant County is the top committing county in the state as it has nearly doubled the number of youth from 63 to 103 in the fiscal years of Sept. 1, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2024 and Sept 1, 2024 to Aug 31, 2025. This is greater than the next two highest counties, Harris and Dallas County, whose commitments were 53 to 53 and 54 to 44.

Commissioner Manny Ramirez said Tarrant County accounts for about 30% of the wait list in the state and is also the largest county in the state without a post-adjudication facility. Ramirez said without a post-adjudication facility then a judge has to either send them to another post-adjudication facility, if it accepts the youth, or to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

A post-adjudication facility provides comprehensive services and programs, separates them from other youth in pre-adjudication, and youth are closer to home without being in state custody, Ramirez said.

“I think the conversation that needs to be had is how Tarrant County has never had one or owned one,” Ramirez said.

Commissioner Alisa Simmons questioned Tarrant County Juvenile Services Director Riley Shaw on whether there is oversight when sending youth to Collin County, what is being done for overreliance on detention for pre-adjudicated youth and the outcomes of the youth sent over.

“Transferring them opens up more space here, gives Tarrant County more capacity to hold more kids and that should not be the goal,” Simmons said. “The goal should be to reduce the commitments, the number of commitments to the state and lessen the time we are holding them in Tarrant County and not sending them home.”

Shaw said this contract provides an option for Tarrant County Juveniles Services when needed.

“While this is a contract it merely gives an option, it does not require us to use it, and we have not used these services in the last year,” Shaw said.

Commissioner Miles said there needs to be discussions with Judge Kim on how he is convicting youth with low level offenses or violent charges that could prevent them from being incarcerated. Commissioners Ramirez and Matt Krause both pushed back on whether it would be appropriate to tell a judge what to do.

“If there is no risk to public safety then we need to be finding other means or avenues to direct these young people versus adjudicating them,” Miles said.