Dallas, TX
Is Dallas County juvenile lockup moving past abuse allegations?
Dallas County’s new interim juvenile department chief has begun to right the ship.
For more than a year, the juvenile department has been plagued with allegations of deplorable conditions and mistreatment of children in its youth lockup. It also has been criticized for not properly handling the cases of juvenile offenders, sometimes keeping low-risk children locked up much longer than they should be. Findings of a state investigation into some of the worst allegations are expected soon.
But at a recent meeting of the Dallas County Juvenile Board, interim director Mike Griffiths offered some refreshing good news.
Griffiths, who led the department between 1995 and 2010, said he had begun fixing up the Dr. Jerome McNeil Jr. Detention Center, buying new furniture, cleaning and painting. He also said he planned to bring back in October plans for a thorough, third-party review of the entire juvenile justice system to lay bare where breakdowns are occurring. Such a review is critical to restoring the community’s trust in the department, Griffiths rightly noted.
Now it’s up to the Juvenile Board, with the support of the Dallas County Commissioners Court, to keep this positive momentum going. The board must not only welcome an outside review, as we recommended last month, but also resist the urge to be defensive, as it has in the past. The board also must commit to hiring a permanent director with a strong record of working in a large juvenile justice system and who can tackle the particular problems facing Dallas County.
Those problems are numerous. A March 2023 report by the group Evident Change, sought by Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, who was concerned about recidivism, found that juveniles were being held in detention for months longer than national standards recommend. That led him to believe that rather than rehabilitating juveniles, the county’s system was turning them into hardened criminals.
Then, a June 2023 investigation by this newspaper found that some juveniles were locked in their cells for 23 hours a day while others complained of filthy conditions, insufficient food and lack of medical care.
The Texas Juvenile Justice Department has since launched two inquiries into the neglect allegations, including one begun in July 2023 and another following a surprise inspection at the detention facility this summer. The latter led to the sudden resignation of Dallas County Juvenile Department director Darryl Beatty and Griffiths’ appointment.
Since taking over the helm, Griffiths has gotten strong reviews from top county officials. Creuzot, a former district court judge, told us he has known Griffiths for decades and supports his plan for a third-party review.
But while Griffiths is clearly the right person to chart a new course for the juvenile department, at 72 he is understandably eager to get back to retirement in Chicago. The Juvenile Board must humbly accept any criticism coming its way and rely on these lessons to help find an able director. It won’t be smooth sailing, but it must follow this better map.
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Jeff Kolb and Sam Gannon welcome Cowboys insiders Clarence Hill (All City Dallas) and Calvin Watkins (Dallas Morning News) for a hilarious breakdown of the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. Giving insight, arguments, and plenty of laughs as two of the best Dallas Cowboys writers in the business go head-to-head on what Dallas should do next.
Dallas, TX
New video of Lake Dallas explosion draws focus on order decades ago to remove old plastic pipes
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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