SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - The Sangamon County Juvenile Center closed in October 2023 after an inmate got a gun, took another inmate hostage, and was shot by police while attempting to escape. 

Now the facility is back open, but it was a long process to reach that point.

First, Illinois State Police had to complete an investigation into the shooting. Then, the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts (AOIC) reviewed the investigation and determined what needed to be done. A Sangamon County spokesperson said the county worked with the 7th Circuit Court to make these changes, including spending $400,000 on renovations. The AOIC then reviewed those changes, including a new body scanner, extra metal detectors, and more cameras. They approved the changes, and the facility reopened at the end of December 2024.

The county said the facility currently houses 3 inmates, with capacity for 16 total. They currently have 19 staff members dedicated to the facility.

AOIC officials said in an email response, "The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and the Prison Rape Elimination Act require 1 staff to 8 juveniles during waking hours and 1 staff to 16 juveniles during overnight hours." 

Since the facility's closure, juveniles needing bed space would be transported across the state. The Springfield Police Department said it has driven teens to eight different Illinois counties, including some locations on the northern border of the state. Deputy Chief of Investigations Sara Pickford said the facility reopening will allow officers to continue their work in Springfield, and not spend their entire shift driving juveniles elsewhere. 

"We were transporting kids to Cook County, Lake County, Madison, Peoria, Knox, McLean, St. Clair, Vermilion and Adams County," said Pickford. "None of those are really close, especially Cook County and Lake County. When our officers would have to transport a juvenile up there, say it's a three hour drive, and that's not including traffic or whatever, we're taking two officers ... off the street for over six hours." 

The Springfield Police Department has also repeatedly run into issues with having to release juveniles back to their guardians because there wasn't space in another facility. Pickford hopes this change will help with that as well.

"There's a definite correlation with the numbers and our stats of juvenile crime when the facility was closed, due to the fact that a lot of times a juvenile may have been met the criteria for detention and they weren't able to be detained in a facility, so they would be released back to their parents and maybe placed on electronic monitoring," said Pickford. "That really wasn't working out and honestly wasn't much of a deterrent to keep juveniles from criminal activity."

The county said it will take 45-60 days to gradually reopen the facility and return juveniles to Sangamon County. They will continue their agreements with other facilities to keep juveniles housed there. They do not have a planned date to end these agreements, regardless of the facility being re-opened.

In November, Sangamon County told WAND that sending juveniles to other counties had already cost them half a million dollars.

Copyright 2025. WAND TV. All rights reserved.