After years of criticism, including pushing for its closure, the Nevada County Grand Jury now has nothing but praise, regarding the transformation of the Probation Department’s Juvenile Hall. A new report says the department has done a great job in repurposing the facility, to reduce not only detention costs but to solve other problems. Grand Jury Foreman Gordon Mangel says a major change will be moving the Sheriff’s Department Dispatch Center into the former administrative offices…

Mangel says with the juvenile offender population down to a handful, the facility was nowhere near cost-effective. There’s also the potential relocation of the county superintendent of schools’ alternative education program to the facility. And several other organizations serving local youth are also looking forward to providing programming there, making it more as a youth center…

Mangel says costs to run Juvenile Hall are still two-point-four million dollars a year. But that figure should drop even further, or about half, after costs are spread to the Dispatch Center and other county programs.