MIDLAND COUNTY, Texas — After years of discussion about a new juvenile justice center, the West Texas is one step closer to making it a reality.
"This is just preliminary, but we needed to start somewhere, and I'm so proud we finally started," said Midland County Judge Terry Johnson.
Johnson and the Midland County Commissioners passed a resolution regarding the Permian Basin Juvenile Justice Center.
"It's something that has been on our radar, this court, I've been here four years, something I campaigned on four years ago because it was needed," said Johnson. "The community wants it. That facility needs to be replaced, so it's a lot of good to doing this."
"We've gotten the goody out of it a long time ago, it's time to do something new for the protection of the folks working there and the children housed there," said Johnson.
With a regional juvenile center, the judge said they would be able to serve all 17 counties in the region, a big improvement since 15 counties are having to send children elsewhere.
"We're trying to keep our kids local, we're trying to spend our money here with our kids," said Johnson. "We don't want to send folks off to Kerrville to have to see their children, like a lot of the counties are having to do."
As for funding for this center, it's expected to come from various entities.
"We've got some different input from different oil companies and other organizations who want to be apart of this, and the state, there's some money available for that," said Johnson. "So, if you take all these budgets and all these things together, we can build a great facility."