Juvenile Diversion is changing guardians.

The Kootenai County commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to transfer authority and control of the Juvenile Diversion department to the county Prosecutor's Office.

The move was both to return the troubled-youth program to the department it started under 29 years ago, and to prepare for the retirement of its only administrator.

"It's been one of our most successful programs," said Commissioner Jai Nelson before the vote at the commissioners' weekly meeting at the county Administration Building. "And it will continue to be after the transfer."

The change will take effect at the beginning of the next budget cycle on Oct. 1, and will reduce the number of departments the commissioners oversee from 19 to 18.

Nelson, the commissioner who had been charged with overseeing the Diversion department, said she was approached about making the transfer by county Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh and Juvenile Diversion Administrator Carolyn Peterson.

"They want the program as it's set up today to continue its focus and the way the model's been set up," Nelson said. "I thought it was the best way to accomplish the goals they have."

Peterson, program administrator since Diversion's creation in 1981, said the move seemed appropriate, given her plans to retire in December.

She and McHugh believe merging Diversion back with the Prosecutor's Office - which Diversion was originally created under - will ensure continued program focus.

"I think this program is best put under the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, since that's where our referrals come from," Peterson said. "We cooperate with them on a daily basis."

Peterson would be making this recommendation even if she wasn't retiring, she added.

Diversion is small, with only a five-person staff, she said, and has a lot of responsibilities to face in guiding hundreds of youth each year on a path away from crime.

"All our cases come from the prosecutor, so if we have any legal questions on how to proceed, we go back to the Prosecutor's Office," Peterson said. "So really they have the oversight."

McHugh said the Diversion program fits best under his office because the Prosecutor's Office has the most to lose if Juvenile Diversion disappears.

"The Juvenile Diversion program results in many young people being kept out of the court system," McHugh said. "As a result of that, we don't have to prosecute as many cases, and it saves my office money in the long term."

Without the Diversion program, he added, the prosecutor's office would likely have to add positions to handle the extra litigation.

There is no reason to believe Diversion funding is at risk right now, McHugh said.

The goal of Diversion is to prevent young offenders from falling into a vicious cycle. A committee of judicial system representatives determines whether juveniles who commit less serious crimes should be diverted from the court system, and instead go through alternate classes and therapy to steer them down a better path.

Some youth take classes on peer pressure, anger management and the legal repercussions of a life of crime, Peterson said.

Program graduates don't have a court record for their actions, she said.

"There are a lot of good young people who do foolish things," Peterson said. "They need to be held accountable, without getting a court record, which can be a deterrent to future education, employment and even military service."

An average of 550 juveniles go through the program each year, Peterson said. About 80 percent complete the program and don't commit another offense.

McHugh said he will meet with Peterson about changing management of Diversion after she leaves.

His office has always supported Juvenile Diversion, he said, as some employees are experts in the field of Juvenile Justice.

"I believe we have the motivation and interest in seeing the program continue, but also the people to make sure it continues to be as successful as it has been under Carolyn Peterson's term," McHugh said.

He doesn't anticipate any big changes to the program under his office's authority, he added.

Juvenile Division was first created in 1981 as part of the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Nelson said. In 1996 it was consolidated with other juvenile programs and put under the umbrella authority of a county employee.

The juvenile programs were separated and transferred to the commissioners' authority in 2005.

Regardless of the authority Diversion operated under, Nelson said, Peterson has always invested herself fully in managing the program.

"She has a really high success rate," Nelson said. "She sort of breaks the cycle at that point, which is where you want it."

Peterson said she doesn't worry about the program's future after she leaves.

"I have a great staff. They'll do a great job," she said. "And the Prosecutor's Office will be there to guide."