By Signal Staff
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday that he is asking the Los Angeles County Superior Court to place Los Angeles County’s juvenile halls into a receivership amid the county’s persistent failure to comply with a stipulated judgment, enforcement order, and two stipulated amendments secured by the Attorney General’s Office since 2021, said a news release from Bonta’s office.
In the filing, the state attorney general argues that while it is a measure of last resort, receivership — or total control by an appointed officer of the court over the management and operations of the juvenile halls — is necessary to address the ongoing and immediate harm to youth at the facilities resulting from chronic illegal and unsafe conditions.
“In recent years, youth at these facilities have suffered severe harms, including overdoses on narcotics allowed to enter the facility, youth-on-youth violence facilitated by staff, and significant unmet medical needs — and will continue to do so if the juvenile halls remain under the county’s authority,” the release said.
Bonta’s proposed receivership, if approved, would give a court-appointed receiver all the powers vested with the county, and additional powers as approved by the court necessary to bring about compliance.
“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 said in the release. “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. 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.”
Several members of the county Board of Supervisors released statements indicating support for the attorney general’s request.
Board Chair Kathryn Barger, whose district includes the Santa Clarita Valley, said the attorney general’s filing is a reflection of the dysfunction that has been allowed to persist in the county’s juvenile halls.
“I am not surprised by Attorney General Bonta’s request to place the Los Angeles County Probation Department under state receivership,” Barger said in a news release. “In truth, this moment has been a long time coming. 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.”
Barger expressed cautious optimism that the receivership might help solve the long-running problems.
“While this request carries weight and must not be taken lightly, my focus remains unchanged: protecting and supporting the youth in our care. They deserve safe facilities, meaningful rehabilitative programs, and a system that offers them a path to growth and accountability,” Barger’s statement added. “If a state receivership is what it takes to finally deliver those reforms and bring long overdue stability, then I welcome this intervention. The well-being of these young people must always come first.”
Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn both issued statements expressing support for the move.
“I support the attorney general’s decision to pursue receivership over Los Angeles County’s juvenile halls, an important and necessary step to safeguard the well-being of the youth in our custody. This action reflects a continued commitment to accountability and reform as we work to address deep-rooted issues and help drive progress forward,” said the statement from Solis.
“I wholeheartedly support receivership of our juvenile halls,” Hahn’s statement said. “We have spent years trying to improve conditions, exhausted every tool at the county level, and still, we are failing these young people. 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.”
The county Probation Department released a statement taking issue with the content of Bonta’s court filing.
“The department fully acknowledges many of the issues raised by Attorney General Bonta regarding juvenile halls in our county,” the Probation Department release 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.”
The statement said that 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 … 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.”
L.A. County Public Defender Ricardo D. García issued a statement advocating a transformation of the system: “We believe in L.A. County’s vision of Youth Justice Reimagined and a system that focuses on healing trauma and ensuring a young person’s most basic needs are met. Any state intervention must prioritize the safety, well-being, and constitutional rights of every youth. 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.”
