Improved Lake County juvenile justice center opens
A new chapter for Lake County's juvenile justice center near Vernon Hills began Monday, more than 20 years after it opened on the grounds of a former drug rehab facility.
Judges, lawyers, county leaders, staff members and even family members of the late Robert W. Depke, for whom the center is named, officially opened the $15.4 million addition to relieve cramped quarters and improve the environment for the public.
The three-story addition to the complex at 24647 N. Milwaukee Ave. has two new courtrooms and meeting space for judges, state's attorneys, public defenders, advocates and others involved in the system. The third floor was left unfinished but has capacity for two more courtrooms.
The focus of the project was to improve the experience for visitors during what can be trying times, officials said.
"I feel it will have a bigger impact on the community who comes here," said Claudia Kasten, chief of the juvenile trial division for the Lake County state's attorney's office. "A building like this gives everyone a level of respect and dignity."
Chief Judge Jorge Ortiz said the facility represents the county's commitment to the justice system.
"As far as juveniles are concerned, we have an even greater legal and moral imperative," he said.
The 36,800-square-foot building is on 17 acres purchased by the county in the mid-1990s. Built as a private residence in 1945, the building was converted in the 1970s and two wings added. It had been a private drug rehab center before the county bought it.
"I pull in and I'm just amazed at it," Robert Depke's widow, GeorgeAnne Depke, said Monday.
She said her husband worked to replace the crowded and dilapidated Hulse Juvenile Center in Waukegan. The Minard E. Hulse juvenile detention center, which can hold 48, is now part of the Depke complex but was not affected by the work, said Danny Davis, executive director of the 19th Circuit Court.
"This is a tense moment for people," Davis said of juvenile court proceedings. "We want to relax that atmosphere as much as we can."
One of the old courtrooms will be removed to create a secure hallway and the remaining space remodeled for probation and other services.
"They had mousetraps in their desks," State's Attorney Mike Nerheim said as he toured the new offices. "This is rags to riches."
Juvenile delinquents, minors in the child welfare system, truancy cases and minors needing supervision or intervention are among those dealt with at the center. Last year, 937 juvenile cases were filed, officials said.
County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor on Monday lauded the late Audrey Nixon, a longtime Lake County board member and chair of the board's law and judicial committee, as a champion of youth issues.
"There are things we can do in this building that can save lives," he said.