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ROGERS CITY -- Presque Isle County courts may soon have a new tool in combating crimes among minors.
The county recently received approval for a $500,000 grant from the state to create two juvenile holding rooms at the Presque Isle County Jail.
That addition would combat a crippling scarcity of places to put young people who need to be held temporarily because of their behavior, Presque Isle County Sheriff Joe Brewbaker told the county's Board of Commissioners at a meeting on Friday.
State rules prevent police from lodging juveniles and adults together, and the county's jail currently has no space that fits the state's youth housing standards.
Closures of multiple youth detention centers around the state in recent years, including one announced last month, reduced an already small pool of places where juvenile offenders can go, either before or after adjudication of their case, if temporary removal from the community is deemed necessary.
Between dwindling housing options and COVID-19-related restrictions, Presque Isle County has placed only one or two juveniles in the past three years, reported Danielle Streich, probation officer for the 53rd Circuit Court juvenile division.
The state grant will cover refurbishing two rooms that could hold juveniles for up to a weekend, Brewbaker said.
In planning for the proposed renovations, Brewbaker has consulted with officials in Cheboygan County, which announced earlier this year that it planned to add several juvenile holding cells to its jail.
Alpena County court officials are also exploring options for creating juvenile housing, possibly via an addition to the Alpena County Jail.
Without a place to put them, police and courts lose leverage with young people behaving badly, Brewbaker told the commissioners.
"The kids know it," Streich said. "We're just really limited."
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.