California Attorney General Rob Bonta is moving to place Los Angeles County’s juvenile facilities into receivership over its repeated failure to improve conditions and comply with years of court orders mandating reforms.
During a news conference Wednesday, July 23, Bonta said it will be the first time the Department of Justice has ever taken such an action.
“For the first time in the history of the California DOJ, we’re asking a court to place a public institution, in this case Los Angeles County’s juvenile hall system, into receivership,” Bonta said. “This would mean transferring full operational authority over the juvenile halls from the county to a court-appointed receiver, someone who can make the critical changes that the county has repeatedly been unable to make. Someone who has the independence, the tools and the mandate to finally bring these facilities into compliance.”
The county has failed to comply with 75% of the terms of the stipulated judgment that the county agreed to 4 1/2 years ago, Bonta said. The county Office of Inspector General has published seven reports detailing those failures. The most recent, published July 17, found the county did not have enough operational cameras to provide sufficient coverage, failed to review use-of-force incidents in timely fashion and did not comply with state law or its own policy when it came to decontaminating youth sprayed with pepper spray.
Bonta pointed to the indictment of 30 probation officers for allowing and even encouraging 69 fights at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall over a six-month period in 2023 and to a series of drug overdoses over the past two years, including a fatal overdose two years ago. Youth continue to miss critical medical appointments and security cameras remain inadequate, with key footage never getting reviewed, he said.
“That’s not just a paperwork issue, that’s a public safety crisis,” Bonta said. “These are not isolated incidents, these are systemic failures — failures that put lives at risk and violate the fundamental rights of youth in custody.”
Los Padrinos has been out of compliance with the state’s minimum standards since late 2024 and was ordered to close by the Board of State and Community Corrections, the regulatory body overseeing California’s juvenile halls, in December. However, the county refused to comply, forcing the matter into a court battle, in which a judge ultimately ordered it to reduce the population at Los Padrinos immediately.
At a July 18 court hearing, the county reported that it had made little progress toward that goal.
In a statement, the Coalition of the L.A. Probation Unions expressed cautious optimism that Bonta’s action “will finally bring the accountability that Los Angeles County desperately needs.”
“The failure to support probation has left our supervisors without the staff, resources, or legal structure to lead effectively,” stated Reggie Torres, president of the Supervising Deputy Probation Officers Union, SEIU Local 721. “Mandatory deployments, extended shifts, and back-to-back holdovers have exhausted our team, jeopardized community supervision, and made it nearly impossible to keep up with court-ordered duties. We hope the Attorney General’s office takes immediate steps to relieve these pressures and bring structure back to the department.”
The unions stated the receivership could be an opportunity to “reshape a broken system,” but stressed it “won’t happen by sidelining the people who know the work best.”
Two members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors offered their support for receivership.
In a statement, Supervisor Janice Hahn welcomed the state’s takeover.
“I wholeheartedly support receivership of our juvenile halls,” she stated. “We have spent years trying to improve conditions, exhausted every tool at the County level, and, still, we are failing these young people.”
Hahn stated that she stands ready to “do everything I can to help receivership succeed” and urged the county’s administration and lawyers to “stay at the table” to ensure youth in the county’s custody and care get the help and support they need.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger stated she was not surprised by the state’s request and added that it has been a “long time coming.”
“For years, I have voiced my concerns about the deepening dysfunction within the department — some of it fueled by the Board of Supervisors’ micromanagement,” Barger stated. “Today’s action is a direct repudiation of our Board’s ability to effectively oversee this department.”
If state receivership can deliver on necessary reforms and “bring long overdue stability,” Barger said, she will “welcome this intervention.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.