Evers plans new juvenile facilities in Milwaukee, Hortonia

 

MADISON, Wis. (AP/CBS 58) -- Gov. Tony Evers says he wants to build two new juvenile detention facilities in Milwaukee and Hortonia, a small town in Outagamie County, northwest of Appleton. 

The new facilities are part of Evers' plan to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prison. Evers says he's committed to getting kids out of Lincoln Hills and moving them closer to home. The Milwaukee facility would be built near Teutonia and Mill Roads. 

The state Department of Corrections will operate the facilities.

Republican legislators passed a bill last year that requires the state Department of Corrections to close the youth prison by 2021 and replace it with regional facilities. The bill allows for borrowing up to $25 million for the facilities.

Evers also announced that he's appointing Democratic state Rep. David Crowley as chairman of a committee that will determine which counties get grants to begin construction of other detention facilities to house other youth prison inmates.