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The Baltimore County Democratic Party on Monday called on the Maryland attorney general and the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate reports of squalid conditions for minors held at the Baltimore County Detention Center.

The Democratic Partys statement followed accusations from the Maryland Public Defenders Office that the Towson jail is violating state and federal laws by holding children under 18 in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day in rodent-infested, flood-prone cells; by failing to separate them from adult inmates; and by not providing them with adequate schooling or medical care.

[We are] steadfast in our commitment to the protection of the children of Baltimore County and recognize that it is a moral imperative to safeguard our youngest residents from harm, Baltimore County Democratic Party chairperson Jason Garber wrote in the statement. We condemn the cruel practice of housing children in adult facilities with full knowledge of these conditions.

The statement called for Baltimore County States Attorney Scott Shellenberger, also a Democrat, to immediately transfer the youth inmates to a juvenile facility and to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Maryland Public Defender to hold all youth inmates who are charged as adults in juvenile facilities.

[Youth at Baltimore County jail kept in cells for 23 hours a day in poor conditions, state public defender says]

Last month, Deborah St. Jean, the director of the public defenders juvenile protection division, made those accusations public in a letter to Shellenberger, Democratic County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and state lawmakers. The county Department of Corrections is investigating the jail, according to a March 16 letter to St. Jean from Director Walt Pesterfield.

As of Monday, the jail held five boys, according to county spokesperson Erica Palmisano.

Minors who commit crimes and are automatically charged as adults under Maryland law can be held in youth facilities, according to Maryland law, though judges can send them to adult facilities.

The Baltimore County States Attorneys Office reviews every case that is subject to a bail review and makes recommendations to assure Baltimore County residents are safe, Shellenberger said. If that means a 17-year-old charged with murder stays in an adult facility because theyre charged as an adult, then thats the appropriate place for them to be housed.

It really strikes a chord of how concerned and disturbed the Democratic Party grassroots [base] is, said Ian Miller, a Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee member who was speaking as an individual. Miller said the committee passed the statement unanimously at a March 28 meeting.

The county executives office has been Democratically controlled since December 1994, when Dutch Ruppersberger won the election against then-County Executive Roger Hayden, a Republican.

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As our administration has consistently said, BCDC houses juvenile offenders charged as adults who are ordered by the Court to be held there. While the county conducts an evaluation of the facility, officials have noted that it appears that in many cases, conditions were not found to be as described; however, the county is identifying areas for improvement and will provide a response following completion of their investigation, Palmisano said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the county continues to explore opportunities to work with partners to identify alternative options for housing juveniles charged as adults.

The Democratic Party statement also called on the U.S. Department of Justice and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown to investigate the policies, practices and conditions of the county Department of Corrections and Shellenbergers office.

A spokesperson for the DOJ did not immediately have a comment Monday.

Aleithea Warmack, a spokesperson for Browns office, declined to comment, citing a policy of neither confirming nor denying the existence of any ongoing investigations.

Pesterfield said in meetings with the Baltimore County Council and Baltimore County legislative delegation that some of the accusations were inaccurate or only partially true.

Public Defender Natasha Dartigue and members of her office reiterated the claims of squalid conditions in a briefing last Friday with lawmakers and asked Pesterfield to enter into an agreement with the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections that would send youth inmates charged as adults to the Youth Detention Center on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore City instead of the Towson adult detention center.

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Baltimore County Democrats call for state and federal investigation ... - Baltimore Sun