ABSTRACT
The United States is distinctive in how it dispenses justice in a decentralised manner. For example, there are approximately 18,000 different law enforcement agencies within the United States, significantly more than any other country. The same is true in adult and juvenile corrections. Most juvenile correctional programmes are administered at the county level, based on state regulations. There is no comprehensive national juvenile justice system per se, but instead there is a disjointed conglomerate model that can appear to outsiders as a holistic system. This, however, is an illusion. Each of the 50 states is responsible for overseeing more than 3,000 counties, where the bulk of juvenile justice is administered (National Association of Counties). This chapter examines the prison system in Dallas County from the perspective of Dany W. Pirtle, Deputy Director of Executive and Administrative Services of the Juvenile Justice Department.
