IDJC liaison: juvenile arrests, petitions and recidivism fell in Bannock County

Stace Garrett, district 6 liaison for the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, presented the department’s annual juvenile justice report for Bannock County and told commissioners the county is showing declines in several categories of youth involvement in the justice system.

Garrett reported that county arrests were lower than in prior years — the transcript record shows the presenter cited “700 or 734” arrests — and that detention admissions and petitions were down. He told the board probation releases were successful about 91% of the time and that diversion programs posted an 86% success rate. For a cohort of 145 youth tracked by county staff, Garrett recorded recidivism of 8% at six months, 14% at 12 months and 23% at 24 months.

Commissioners asked for a definition of diversion. Garrett said diversion is an alternative path to services or treatment that keeps some juveniles out of formal court processing and that the prosecutor often decides whether a case is diverted. A county presenter explained that diversion can be used pre-court or later via a prevention stipulation, and that local screening and case management support the high diversion rate.

Garrett also summarized restitution and placements: the county reported $31,190 in restitution paid to victims by juveniles, and only a small number of youth were placed in out-of-county state facilities. He noted the county’s use of SUDS and CBAS gap-funding to support treatment when Medicaid or insurance is not available, and that IDJC’s percentage of the county budget has trended from about 11% (2023) to 9% (current year).

The board recognized Matt Olsen, Bannock County juvenile justice director, who is leaving after more than 30 years of service. Commissioners thanked Olsen and asked staff for follow-up data on specific trends.

Next steps: staff will provide any requested breakdowns and follow-up materials to commissioners and will coordinate any public-facing materials tied to diversion and program success.