Border Hope Juvenile Detainee assaults staff member
By: Jose G. Landa
Copyright 2013
A juvenile detainee at the Border Hope Restorative Justice Center operated by the County of Maverick in Eagle Pass, Texas assaulted a staff member on Thursday, September 19, 2013, causing the juvenile detainee to be brought before 293rd Judicial District Judge Cynthia L. Muniz on the same date of the incident for a juvenile court hearing. After the Court hearing, the juvenile was transferred to another secured juvenile detention center in Texas.
The juvenile detainee was from Brewster County, Texas who contracts with the County of Maverick and the Border Hope Restorative Justice Center to institutionalize its juvenile offenders. The juvenile detainee involved in the September 19th assault was a pre-adjudicated juvenile detainee at the facility.
This is not the first incident in which a juvenile detainee at the Border Hope Restorative Justice Center has assaulted a staff member. In March of 2013, another juvenile detainee assaulted a security guard at the facility causing severe injuries to the staff member and escaping from the juvenile detention center. The Maverick County Sheriff’s Department had to search for and arrest the juvenile escapee during the March 2013 incident.
Earlier last week on Tuesday, September 17th, 365th Judicial District Judge Amado J. Abascal, III, rescinded his prior certification of the Border Hope Restorative Justice Center as a juvenile detention center as a result of non-compliance with State of Texas standards and regulations during the Maverick, Dimmit, and Zavala Counties” Juvenile Board of Directors meeting held in Eagle Pass. District Judge Amado J. Abascal, III, had previously raised concerns to the Maverick, Dimmit, and Zavala Counties” Juvenile Board and 293rd Judicial District Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Bruce A. Ballou regarding the center’s non-compliance with State standards and law. District Judge Abascal’s rescission of his certification of the Border Hope Restorative Justice Center jeopardizes the facility’s ability to continue operating as a juvenile detention center.
The Border Hope Restorative Justice Center was founded by the Maverick, Dimmit, and Zavala Counties’ Juvenile Board of Directors in 2012 to house juvenile offenders from these three counties. Since its opening, the Border Hope Restorative Justice Center has entered into contracts with Presidio and Brewster Counties as well as other counties to institutionalize their juvenile offenders.
This latest juvenile assault incident on September 19th and District Judge Abascal’s rescission of his previous certification of the Border Hope Restorative Justice Center at the September 17th Maverick, Dimmit, and Maverick Counties’ Juvenile Board meeting will more than likely cause the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) to visit the facility and possibly shut it down unless it complies with state standards and regulations concerning juvenile detention centers.
The Eagle Pass Business Journal interviewed Border Hope Restorative Justice Center Director and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Bruce A. Ballou on September 19th to confirm the juvenile assault incident at the facility and he confirmed the incident.
