T’EXE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
Aun-rw. T-s 78711
JOHN L. JaiLa.
A-- ca-AL
A,ugust 1, 1974
The Honorable John R. MacLean Opinion No. H- 363
Johnson County Att:orney
P.O. Box 350 Re: May juvenile detention
Cleburne, Texas 76031 facility be located in same
building as counly jail.
Dear Mr. MacLean:
Title 3 of the Family Code, (Acts 1973,63rd Leg., p.1460, ch. 544),
dealing with delinquent children and those in need of supervision, provides
in Subsection 51.1.2(a) of its General Provisions:
Except after transfer to criminal court for
prosecution under Section 54.02 of this code
(authorizing the Juvenile Court to waive its
exclusive original jurisdiction under certain
circumstances), a child shall not be detained
in or committed to a compartment of a jail or
lockup in which adults arrested for, charged with,
or convicted of crime are detained or committed,
nor be permitted contact with such persons.
You ask whether a county may locate its juvenile detention facility
in the same building as its county jail. Subsection 51.12(a) is mandatory
and specific in prohibiting ‘a~ contact between adult prisoners and
juvenile offenders. It does not require that the juvenile detention facility
be located in a particular building or in a building separate from the
county jail.
Our answer to your question, therefore, i,s that, as long as juvenile
and adult offenders are not detained in the same compartment of a jail or
p. 1701
The Honorable John R. MacLean page 2 (H-363)
lockup, and juveniles are not permitted any contact with adult offenders,
the juvenile detention facility may be located in the same building as the
county jail. Of course, other requirements of Article 5115, Vernon’s
Texas Civil Statutes, defining “safe and suitable jails” must also be met.
SUMMARY
As long as juvenile offenders and adult offenders
are not detained in the same compartment and juvenile
offenders are not permitted any contact with adult
offenders, a county may locate its juvenile detention
facility in the same building as its county jail.
Very truly yours,
/a
OHN L. HILL
:;: Attorney General of Texas
F
~. APPR ED:
&, GIqz2~~ - ”
DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p. 1702