The Milwaukee Common Council voted Tuesday to approve rezoning for construction of a new youth prison in the city. The new facility, which would replace the troubled Lincoln Hills youth detention facility in central Wisconsin, would house the state’s most serious young offenders.
Department of Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr said the new Milwaukee facility will keep youth from committing more crime, as well as keep them in the justice system. “One of the hopes of being able to move our youth closer to home is to be better able to engage the families in some sort of counseling and therapy,” Carr said.
The site chosen, a former Milwaukee emissions testing center, was selected by Governor Tony Evers’ administration last August.