WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) -- Marathon County leaders are considering several options to help turn the Juvenile Secure Detention Facility into a source of revenue for the county instead of closing one of only nine such facilities statewide.
Administrator Brad Karger and the County's Public Safety Committee took up the matter as part of Wednesday's regular meeting. He says that right now all options remain on the table. "If we can increase revenues to offset overhead costs, then we will maintain the facility. If we can't, we will close the facility and divert our kids to Stevens Point."
They're hoping to do that by contracting for services with other counties across the state that don't have their own facilities. Both Karger and Sheriff's leaders noted that in the past few years children from as far away as the Milwaukee area have been housed in the facility.
With that in mind, Karger says they are asking those counties that use the facility on a regular basis to provide some kind of guaranteed funding in exchange for regular space. "I think about it as a membership, we're providing a regional service and we have an overhead cost. We have to have some guaranteed revenues to operate this."
Karger previously told WAOW TV in September that the county has identified the center as something that may be a "lower priority" item. Operating the center comes at a cost of around $700,000 annually.
Similar facilities are operating in Stevens Point as well as Eau Claire. Karger says closing Marathon County's facility would leave Wisconsin with eight juvenile detention facilities statewide.
Ideally, Karger would like to see the facility make enough money to help support the opening of a new police radio channel in 2019, which he says has been identified as a top priority item for the county.
A specific timeline on making a final decision was not given, but Karger says he hopes to have that made quickly.
Comments