Monterey County Juvenile Hall one of the oldest in the State

The juvenile hall in Monterey County is one of the oldest in the entire State of California. The type of youth they’re housing there has changed since the days when it was built back in the 50’s.

“There are some juveniles that need to be incarcerated and we want to incarcerate them in the safest, securest, healthiest environment we can,” said Chief Probation Officer Marcia Parsons.

The Monterey County Juvenile Hall was built in 1959, but things have changed.

“It is not designed to house the type of youth we’re housing today that have committed much more violent acts. It’s the old rooms, it’s the long linear design. The maintenance on this hall is tremendous. The constant maintenance and repair issues,” said Parsons.

A groundbreaking for a new hall happened Friday morning.

“This way we can provide additional programming as well as the educational component,” said Juvenile Hall Director Jose Ramirez.

The new facility will have a campus design with the focus on the educational center.

“Every youth that comes into our custody has to attend school daily. In addition we have programming to help them become better productive citizens of our community,” said Ramirez.

The completion date for the new hall is set for June 2019.

“We’re looking forward to a more modern, healthier, secure environment,” said Parsons.