The juvenile hall in Downey, Los Angeles County’s troubled Los Angeles County, appears to be on the verge of closure, and a judge issued an interim order Friday, asking the county to develop a plan to move detainees out of the facility.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Espinoza is weighing the fate of Los Padrinos, who houses around 300 young detainees whose criminal case is still pending in court.
In December, the California and Community Amendment Board declared Rospadrino, not suitable for housing youth detainees, citing a variety of issues, particularly staffing flaws. However, the county lacks viable alternatives to housing detainees and continues to operate the facility despite state orders.
The county’s public defense attorney’s office claims that the young people at the facility are not safe and is challenging the continued use of Los Padrino. On Friday, Espinoza, who was considering issues in connection with the pending murder of one of the juveniles detained at the facility, ordered him to return to court next month with plans to relocate detainees to the county probation department.
The probation department issued a statement Friday afternoon that it will “moves swiftly to implement the Los Padrinos Hall process plan, which prioritizes public safety in line with our broader facility strategy.”
“We appreciate Judge Espinoza recognizing the progress the department has made and endorsing the importance of a measured approach, which will avoid the release of youth and support a safe and orderly transition to other youth facilities,” according to the department. “Our existing proposed global facility plan has already called for the relocation of high-need young people and women from Rospadrino. This ruling will allow us to accelerate that effort. We will be fully committed to protecting the well-being of both our care and our staff and will continue to work with our county and state partners.”
Thirty probation officers at the Lospadrinos Juvenile Detention Center are accused of organizing a fight between the juveniles. Brittany Hope reports NBC4 News at 6am on March 4, 2025.
Los Angeles County manager Janice Hahn has issued a statement saying he supports an order to close Los Padrino.
“There are young people in Lospadrino who need to be relocated to an alternative facility, but others can return home, be monitored by ankle monitors, care for them in a community-based arrangement like the Juvenile Republic, and should be safely released,” Hahn said.
The official defense attorney’s office welcomed Espinoza’s ruling and said the closure of Los Padrino has been delayed for a long time.
“The disruption in the probation sector creates a dangerous ripple effect on the safety of young people,” according to an agency statement. “We have seen many post-report reports that negligence, mismanagement and abuse, but authorities argue that change is coming, and today’s court orders are a step in the right direction.
The probation department has repeatedly filed a lawsuit with the BSCC to lift the ineligible sentence in Lospadrinos, claiming improvements have been made. But state regulators have refused to be upset.
The Boys’ Hall was plagued with administrative and operational issues as it quickly reopened in 2023 to accommodate detainees who had reopened from the Central Boyle Hall in Boyle Heights and the Boys’ Hall in Barry J. Nidolph in Sylmer.
However, after the successful relocation project, Los Padrinos suffers from understaffing and allegations of violence among detainees, but probation officers faced it without intervention and escaped attempts.
The facility’s latest Blackeye came in March when 30 county probation officers were attacked by criminal charges stemming from an investigation that revealed alleged “Youth-on-Youth-on-Youth violence” at the facility. Prosecutors said the probation officer would describe a “gladiator fight” among detainees. State Attorney General Rob Bonta said 69 fights were allowed to occur among young people who were institutionalized between July and December 2023.
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