BENTONVILLE — Arkansas’ juvenile detention facilities are under scrutiny by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Benton County officials have been working since Tuesday to determine how best to comply with a seven-page request for information about the Benton County Juvenile Detention Center submitted by Holly Dickson of the ACLU of Arkansas in Little Rock. Benton County Judge Bob Clinard said gathering the documents and checking to be sure no exempt information is disclosed will take some time, certainly more than the normal three days allowed for government to comply with requests made under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
At A Glance
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation are dedicated to promoting, defending and expanding civil liberties in Arkansas. These liberties include free speech, religious freedom, racial and ethnic justice, due process, privacy, LGBT rights and reproductive freedom. The ACLU wants to make sure that the promises of the founders of this country, preserved in the Bill of Rights, are a reality for everyone in Arkansas.
Source: aclu.org
“It’s several pages, typed, but single spaced,” Clinard said. “I’m just fine with giving the information to the public about our Juvenile Justice Center and our policies and procedures and our personnel. But it appears on the surface of it, it’s going to take several days at least to pull all this together.”
Dickson said the ACLU has received many complaints about juvenile detention facilities in Arkansas and is gathering information about all aspects of their operation from January 2010 to the present. The Freedom of Information request seeks “any policies and procedures of the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) and documentation of implementation of such in your possession.”
The request includes “any and all documents in your possession” on the centers’ grievance policies, training instruction or protocols; methods of discipline and/or punishment and policies regarding use of restraints and methods of discipline and/or punishment; education for the juveniles at the JDC; regulations, directives, policies, practices and procedures regarding the division and separation of juveniles; recreation available to and allotted for the juveniles; the visitation policy for juveniles; medical provisions and protocols; rehabilitation services provided; housing of juveniles for each month; documents, records and policies pertaining to the suicide watch and prevention of youth; access of attorneys to their juvenile clients; documents, records, and policies regarding the 72-hour hearing requirement; records on drug testing; records on the numbers of persons housed in the JDC; all documents describing the confinement conditions or confinement requirements and housing capacity of the JDC; documents, records, practices and policies regarding the staff; any and all documents identifying the employer of the JDC.
Similar requests have been sent to juvenile detention centers and other facilities that provide contract services in the state, Dickson confirmed Friday. In Washington County, Jean E. Mack is director of the county’s juvenile detention center and said she also has received the ACLU’s request and is working to comply with it.
“It’s pretty extensive,” Mack said. “I’ve corresponded via email with Miss Holly, and we’ve discussed the request. Obviously, as indicated in the memo, they’re aware of the amount of information they’re asking for, and she’s offered us 30 days to get it together.”
Mack said she has gotten calls from other juvenile facilities across the state as have Benton County officials. Peggy Kendrick, administrator of the Independence County/White River Juvenile Detention Center, said she also received the request.
“It’s a jaw-dropper,” Kendrick said of the ACLU’s request for information.
Kendrick said she plans to submit her center’s policies and procedures handbook and hopes that will satisfy the request.
“Most of the information she’s requesting is in our handbook,” Kendrick said. “It looks like a whole lot, but when you read it, it’s nearly all policies and procedures. I would say 99 percent of that stuff is policies and procedures so I’m just going to send them our handbook.”
Kendrick said while there was a recent incident in the White River facility in which a detainee died in an apparent suicide, she was told her center wasn’t targeted because of that.
Dickson said she won’t be able to evaluate the completeness of the responses until they arrive, but the ACLU’s interest isn’t prompted by any one incident but by the number of complaints it has received. She said juvenile detention centers in Arkansas don’t operate under a single umbrella authority, as do jails, and a comprehensive look at the centers may produce valuable information.
“We’ll have a better idea once we’ve received the information and have had time to analyze it,” Dickson said. “Our concern is prompted by our having received multiple complaints about issues that are serious. It doesn’t make any sense, for example, to send someone to a JDC for truancy if they’re not going to have access to education while they’re there. It’s issues such as that.”