Some leaders denied alleged problems at Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center and said the state cleared the facility in an audit.
Wednesday’s conference came after numerous media reports over the past year regarding poor conditions at the juvenile jail, located at 2600 Lone Star Drive, and after community advocates on Sunday, with children in the facility, who were concerned about the juvenile justice center. Issues included a lack of outdoor recreation or even access to the outdoors; detainees being locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day; a lack of access to daily showers and general uncleanliness in the facility.
The 2023 investigation showed that five residents reported that they were not receiving showers daily. Employees said in the report that low staffing caused this problem but it had been remedied by staggering shifts. Subsequent documentation showed the detainees had each showered on a sample date and the facility was found in compliance, the audit said as of August.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the commissioners court issued a subpoena last summer for records documenting operations at the facility, which juvenile justice officials resisted the release of. Jenkins said the records must be reviewed because an audit only shows conditions for a given day at a given time, while records — such as sheets showing when a detainee is in and out of their cell — paints a fuller picture of how the jail is operating.