California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday asked the Los Angeles County Superior Court to place the beleaguered County’s juvenile halls under total control by an appointed court officer over their management and operations, including budget setting, procurement of goods, and hiring and firing of staff.
Bonta said the legal maneuver is necessary to address the ongoing and immediate harm to youth at the facilities resulting from chronic illegal and unsafe conditions.
In recent years, youth at these facilities have suffered severe harms, including overdoses on narcotics allowed to enter the facility, youth-on-youth violence facilitated by staff, and significant unmet medical needs, and will continue to do so if the juvenile halls remain under the County’s authority, he said.
“Today, for the first time in my office’s history, we are asking a court to place the subject of a pattern-and-practice investigation into receivership. This drastic step to divest Los Angeles County of control over its juvenile halls is a last resort — and the only option left to ensure the safety and well-being of the youth currently in its care,” said Bonta.
The receivership comes after the state tried to remedy the deteriorating situation for several years, starting with a State Department of Justice 2021 investigation into conditions at the County’s juvenile halls.
In making the announcement, Bonta highlighted several egregious incidents, including securing a grand jury indictment in March 2025 of 30 probation staff for child endangerment and abuse, battery, and conspiracy for permitting, facilitating, and encouraging 69 fights involving 143 different victims between July 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.
Second, Bonta pointed to a number of overdoses that occurred at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in 2025, despite a court order mandating the County improve its contraband-screening protocols.
At the same time, the Board of State and Community Corrections has issued findings of unsuitably for both Los Padrinos and Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility, and the juvenile division of the Los Angeles County Superior Court has ordered the County to depopulate Los Padrinos.
“For four-and-a-half years, we’ve moved aggressively to bring the County into compliance with our judgment — and we’ve been met with glacial progress that has too often looked like one step forward and two steps back. Enough is enough,” said Bonta.
“These young people deserve better, and my office will not stop until they get it. A receivership is the best and only option to turn Los Angeles County juvenile halls around, and we believe the court will agree.”
