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An ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending and supplementing the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances, Part 2 (entitled “County Government Operations”), through the creation of a new Chapter 206 (entitled “Juvenile Detention”) in order to provide for diversity in the management of the County’s juvenile detention center.
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Whereas, prior to 2001, the Commonwealth Pennsylvania’s Second Class County Code provided for a board to manage Allegheny County’s juvenile detention center; and
Whereas, these provisions provided for a board comprised of the three County commissioners, the County Controller, three members of the public appointed by the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and three members of the public appointed by the Chair of the board of County commissioners; and
Whereas, prior to 2001, Commonwealth law provided that “[t]he management of houses for the detention and reception of juveniles under the age of sixteen years awaiting trial, hearing or judicial investigation” was committed to this board; and
Whereas, the impact of this provision was to remove management of the County’s juvenile detention center from the purview of merely the three County commissioners, and instead to place such management within the purview of a board comprised of individuals representing additional perspectives, a majority of whom would not have any incentive to politicize the center’s management; and
Whereas, pursuant to the terms of Act 80 of 2001, the Second Class County Code was amended to render this board purely advisory, to provide for an eight member board, and permitting the County Manager to appoint a director and additional staff members to manage the County’s juvenile detention center; and
Whereas, the impact of this change was to place operational control over the management of the County’s juvenile detention center in the hands of a single individual, who was an at-will employee of the County Manager and...
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