The Southwest Indiana Regional Youth Village, a detention center, is facing a funding shortfall and has requested additional financial support. Chief Probation Officer James Rees, representing the Knox County Probation Department, appealed to the Knox County Council for $275,000 in funding. Rees informed the council that the facility has exhausted its budget as of this month due to two primary reasons. Firstly, there has been a rise in juvenile crimes, resulting in a significant influx of violent offenders arrested for gun, drug, and sex-related offenses. Secondly, a juvenile offender is being tried as an adult for a gun-related crime, which incurs higher costs for daily housing. Typically, the detention center incurs expenses of $150 per day per juvenile, but the special case mentioned by Rees amounts to $375 per day due to being tried as an adult and the nature of the charges. Currently, the Youth Village houses eight juveniles, including the special case, resulting in a daily cost of $1,575 or a weekly cost of $11,025. The Knox County Council unanimously approved the requested funding of $275,000, which was sourced from the rainy day fund.
