National Overviews

The organization and administration of juvenile detention varies from place to place more than any other juvenile delinquency service. Beyond the observation that detention is more often than not a matter of executive administration, it is difficult to make any valid generalization.

In 13 states, all juvenile detention is administered by state-level executive agencies, and in 13 others, it is subject to local executive administration. In the District of Columbia, an executive agency also administers detention. Local courts administer detention in 3 states, while a state judicial agency controls it in 2 other states. In all the rest, the system for administering judicial detention varies to some extent from one part of the state to another.

Fourteen states have variable or mixed systems, with detention administered by local courts in some places, by local executive agencies in others, and by state level agencies in others.

Citation: Griffin, Patrick and King, Melanie. 2006. "National Overviews." State Juvenile Justice Profiles. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice. Online. Available: http://www.ncjj.org/stateprofiles/.