California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday asked a court approve his request for the state to take control of Los Angeles County juvenile halls.
The attorney general cited what he said were repeated operational failures at Los Padrinos and Barry J. Nidorf juvenile halls, leading to his court petition to establish a receivership for the county’s problematic juvenile detention system.
Bonta made the announcement during a news conference in downtown LA, where he noted ongoing issues at the county’s juvenile detention facilities such as youth-on-youth violence, drug overdoses and insufficient staffing.
“For the first time in my office’s history, we are asking a court to place the subject of a pattern-and-practice investigation into receivership,” Bonta said in a statement. “This drastic step to divest Los Angeles County of control over its juvenile halls is a last resort — and the only option left to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the youth currently in its care.”
Bonta’s court petition filed Wednesday in LA Superior Court seeks the appointment of a receiver to oversee the operation of the juvenile halls. The attorney general accused the county of failing to comply with court judgments and orders dating back to 2021 that pertain to management of the facilities. LA County remains out of compliance with 75% of the court judgment provisions, according to the AG’s office.
“For four-and-a-half years, we’ve moved aggressively to bring the county into compliance with our judgment — and we’ve been met with glacial progress that has too often looked like one step forward and two steps back,” Bonta said. “Enough is enough. These young people deserve better, and my office will not stop until they get it. A receivership is the best and only option to turn Los Angeles County juvenile halls around, and we believe the court will agree.”
A receivership would turn over control of the juvenile halls to a court-appointed officer, or receiver.
In a statement Wednesday, the county Probation Department acknowledged the problems at the juvenile halls, but officials were “deeply concerned” with alleged “misleading information” in the attorney general’s court filing.
“The department fully acknowledges many of the issues raised by Attorney General Bonta regarding juvenile halls in our county,” Probation Department officials said. “However, we are deeply concerned with some of the misleading information expressed in the attorney general’s filing. We are further concerned with his request seeking expansive authority through an expedited court process — despite its far-reaching implications and intent.
“Further, Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa has taken aggressive and direct steps to address several of the deficiencies that have plagued the Probation department for decades, particularly around the juvenile halls,” the statement continued. “Since his appointment, the chief has worked to stabilize staffing, improve safety protocols including to curb the introduction of dangerous contraband into facilities, increase accountability for staff misconduct, bring fidelity to our internal investigative processes, expand access to medical and mental health services, and realign the juvenile system — all of this despite long-standing bureaucratic and regulatory roadblocks.
“Our hope is that a receivership structure, should it be approved, be used as a collaborative tool to help remove obstacles—not as an isolating mechanism that sidelines the people and systems committed to improvements and reform,” probation officials said.
LA County supervisors voiced support for the receivership.
“We have spent years trying to improve conditions, exhausted every tool at the County level, and still, we are failing these young people,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose District 4 includes Los Padrinos, said in a statement. “I stand ready to do everything I can to help receivership succeed and I urge our county leadership, our chief probation officer, and our county lawyers to stay at the table to shape a process that helps ensure the kids who are not only in our custody but are in our care get the help and support they need.”
Supervisor Kathryn Barger said the was “not surprised” by receivership request.
“In truth, this moment has been a long time coming,” Barger said in a statement. “For years, I have voiced my concerns about the deepening dysfunction within the department — some of it fueled by the Board of Supervisors’ micromanagement. Today’s action is a direct repudiation of our board’s ability to effectively oversee this department. …
“If a state receivership is what it takes to finally deliver those reforms and bring long overdue stability, then I welcome this intervention,” Barger added.
Supervisor Hilda Solis said receivership is “an important and necessary step to safeguard the well-being of the youth” detained at county facilities.
“Late last year, I co-led the emergency proclamation for our juvenile system — an urgent measure aimed at confronting the decades-long, systemic problems within our Probation Department, as well as the challenges from Los Padrinos,” Solis said in a statement. “I stand by that decision and know that the county is committed to working collaboratively with the attorney general to ensure the safety of our youth. We must face this crisis with urgency, transparency, and a shared commitment to doing better for those entrusted to our care.”
Problem have persisted at Los Padrinos since its 2023 reopening to house youth transferred from two facilities that state regulators declared unsuitable for youth detention. State regulators have also declared Los Padrinos unsuitable, but the Downey facility continues to operate because the county does not have anywhere else available to house youth detainees.
In May, an LA juvenile court judge approved the Probation Department’s plan to reduce the number of detainees at Los Padrinos.
In March, 30 county probation officers faced criminal charges stemming from allegations officers staged and stood idly by during fights involving youths.
Earlier this month, an outside contractor was accused of bringing Xanax pills into the facility. Downey resident Alejandro Lopez, 21, an employee of the nonprofit Student Nest, was charged with one felony count each of bringing or sending a controlled substance into a juvenile hall or camp and possession for sale of a designated controlled substance, authorities said.
Prosecutors also allege that Lopez induced a Los Padrinos “young adult ward,” who was also charged with a felony, to participate in the scheme, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.
Two days after Lopez’s arrest, at least nine people, including one youth detainee, were hospitalized after exposure to an unknown substance at Los Padrinos.
Last week, another contract worker was detained after trying to bring a concealed knife into the facility.
The employee, who was hired through Apple One to work with the county Department of Youth Development, was escorted from the premises and ordered not to return while the matter was investigated. A search of his belongings also revealed a canister of pepper spray.
Both the spray and the knife were seized as evidence. The employee’s name was not released.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the state attorney general’s receivership request indicates “how deeply broken our juvenile probation facility operations have become” and accused union leaders who represent probation officers of “blocking reform at every turn.”
Horvath said in a statement, “In order for a receivership to have a chance at successful restructuring, the state must take on the challenge LA County has faced for decades — employment agreements and civil service procedures that have protected the rights of those who have harmed our young people, instead of the young people themselves.”
Union leaders issued statements firing back at the Board of Supervisors for the juvenile detention system’s issues.
“For years, the Board of Supervisors has ignored our warnings and failed to invest in the sworn officers who serve on the front lines,” said Stacy Ford, president of the Los Angeles County Deputy Probation Officers Union. “The result has been a manufactured crisis — one that the County itself has perpetuated through chronic hiring freezes, hostile working conditions, and the outsourcing of public safety responsibilities to untrained civilians.”
Reggie Torres, president of the Supervising Deputy Probation Officers Union, said, “The failure to support probation has left our supervisors without the staff, resources, or legal structure to lead effectively. Mandatory deployments, extended shifts, and back-to-back holdovers have exhausted our team, jeopardized community supervision, and made it nearly impossible to keep up with court-ordered duties. We hope the Attorney General’s office takes immediate steps to relieve these pressures and bring structure back to the department.”
LA County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia also responded to the AG’s receivership request.
“Any state intervention must prioritize the safety, well-being and constitutional rights of every youth,” Garcia said in a statement. “Instead of further investment in a carceral system, state action should prioritize lasting transformation of how the criminal legal system treats its most vulnerable youth and continue to move away from punishment toward healing, education, and care, not cages.”
A copy of the receivership request, which a judge is reviewing, is available on the attorney general’s website.
