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Photo from Mail Tribune files Youths play volleyball in this view through a window at the Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center. It is the oldest juvenile center in the state. Juvenile center County commission still gives priority to detention facility By SUSAN JAY Jackson County's bond measure for a juvenile detention center lost, but the need for a new center is still a reality. That leaves county commissioners to decide when and if they'll return to the voters. "I would support going back," said Commissioner Ric Holt. "From my perspective, our priority hasn't changed. Certainly the juvenile facility is number one. "All it would take is another incident like Springfield," Holt said, referring to the fatal Thurston High School shooting on May 21, in which 15-year-old Kip Kinkel is accused of firing at his classmates. It's too late to put a measure on the March ballot, so the soonest election the county can aim for is May 1999, said County Administrator Burke Raymond. "We haven't given up at all on the juvenile center, but I really think we're going to have to do some real soul-searching about this adult criminal bond measure," Raymond said. "We need to concentrate on the juvenile center and get that issue resolved." The $22.5 million bond measure would have paid for a 67,000-square-foot, 60-bed detention center to replace the current 40-year-old facility, the oldest such center in the state. Also on the ballot was a $16.97 million bond measure for adult criminal justice services that would have added jail beds, courtrooms and offices. Raymond said he doesn't think giving the voters both bond measures in the same election contributed to the juvenile measure's loss. He also said a factor that probably affects any money measure on the November ballot is that voters received their property tax statements about a week before the election, reminding them of what they're already paying. Raymond doesn't anticipate the commissioners will change the juvenile center bond measure. "We think the idea of locating the juvenile center in the criminal justice complex (on 10th Street) is the right way to go, and we see no reason to change the plan," Raymond said. The juvenile measure went down 26,551 to to 26,045 -- losing by 1 percent. Early results showed the measure winning. "Clearly we lost with the absentee votes," Raymond said. "It's devastating in the sense that we lost, but it was very close." It's difficult to predict if local governments, agencies and school districts will continue to place money measures on November ballots only during even-numbered years. Under Measure 47, passed in 1996, all other elections require a 50 percent voter turnout to pass, no matter what the outcome. If the commissioners do decide to go back to the voters a second time, "I guess we would hope that vote-by-mail and interest in one of more of the measures would be a draw for voters," said Alan Young, juvenile center director. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA