At that point, the state Department of Human Services Youth Services Division will send them to its observation and assessment facility in North Little Rock, where juveniles are evaluated for their emotional state, seriousness of their crimes and medical needs, agency spokesman Joe Quinn said. Then juveniles are assigned to either the agency's serious offender program at Alexander or to one of three wilderness camps. If adjudicated delinquent, the suspects in the Jonesboro case likely will be assigned to the serious offender program, the state's only lock-down facility for juveniles. The agency accepts about 1,000 juveniles a year. Of those, about 250 are accused of violent crimes.
Capital murder is rare.
Youth Services has 275 beds for offenders, so most stay less than two months, said Lloyd Warford, Youth Services assistant director. Serious offenders can be held until age 18, but only with court permission reviewed yearly after the first two years, Warford said. State law provides for youths found delinquent to stay until age 21, but only if the state can segregate those over 18 from the rest of the juvenile population, Gay said. No such facility exists. If a juvenile reaches age 21 without committing another offense, his record is erased, Glynn said.