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Atty, California. General Rob Bonta said Wednesday he would ask the judge to allow the state to gain control of the LORD Hall.
The move comes after years of failing to comply with court order reforms that have been marked by riots, drug overdose, child abuse allegations and the death of teenagers.
In a statement, Bonta said he would ask the judge to place the county hall in “acceptance.” This means that court-appointed officials will take over “management and operation of the juvenile hall” from the LA County probation department, which includes budgeting and employment and termination staff.
Bonta is expected to discuss a press conference held in downtown LA around 9:45am that a probation spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hall, who is plagued by the scandal, has not seen any significant improvements under the control of the probation department. Two facilities were closed in 2023 due to repeated failure to meet basic standards for housing youth under California law. The same year, 18-year-old Brian Diaz died of a drug overdose at a safe youth treatment facility, and reports of Xanax and opium overdose among Hall’s youth have been occurring regularly in recent months.
Over the past few years, around 30 probation officers have been charged with crimes related to on-service conduct over the past few years, including 30 people charged earlier this year to stage or allow “Gladiator’s Battle” between supervising juveniles. Officers also refuse to come to work on a daily basis, and each hall is extremely short.
“This dramatic step to selling Los Angeles County’s juvenile hall is a last resort and the only option to ensure the safety and well-being of the young people currently caring for it,” Bonta’s statement said Wednesday. “For four and a half years, we have been proactive in keeping our county with judgment, and we often took a step forward and met with the progress of the ice age, two steps back.
Bonta first suggested that he might seek a host in May, responding to questions for a time survey on long-standing rebellion from the probation department’s longtime state superintendent.
The California Attorney General’s Office began an investigation into the LA County juvenile hall in 2018, finding that probation officers were overusing pepper spray and not providing proper programming, and has long detained a confined young man isolated in his room. The 2021 court settlement between LA County and the state attorney general was intended to improve the conditions of youth and to curb the use of force.
However, this situation appears to have worsened over the past four years. Cases in which staff use force against youths have increased over the life of the settlement, records show. The LA County Inspector’s Office has released six reports indicating that the state does not meet the terms of the state’s oversight agreement. Surveillance officers have arrested a probation officer lying about a violent incident in the hall after reviewing video footage that was inconsistent with the written report.
The Ross Padrino boys hall in Downey was reopened after the state closed two other major detention centers in the county, but soon became a paradise of chaos. In the first month of the surgery, there was a riot and an attempt to escape, and someone brought a gun into the youth hall.
Late last year, California’s state and community amendments also closed Los Padrinos after repeated failures in testing, but probation chief Guillermoviera Rosa ignored the order and led Bonta to call for intervention. Eventually, a LA County judge ordered the probation department to begin emptying Rospadrino until he returns to compliance with state standards.
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