OTTAWA — At their meeting Wednesday morning, the Franklin County Commission is expected to ask for proposals from architects for a new juvenile detention center. Commissioners Ed Taylor and Sue Farrell said Monday that the architect who’s selected would have to have specialized knowledge regarding jails and detention space. Commissioner Don Hay said that the facility needs to be large enough to accommodate growth in the future. County administrator Lisa Johnson said the new detention center will be large enough to house ten juveniles. The present juvenile detention center, which is next to the county jail – which is why the county has to move it to meet more modern regulations, houses seven. She said a plan to create a supervised day school for juvenile offenders will ease the need for more beds in the new center. The county has signed an agreement to buy land from the Elizabeth Layton Center near the Layton Center’s Eisenhower Road clinic south of Ottawa.
