No room up north for kids in trouble

Oct. 31—LANSING — Michigan's "Raise the Age" legislation, seeking to address the needs of juveniles charged with crimes, received bipartisan support when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it into law in 2019.

Republicans hosted a press conference to introduce the legislation and Whitmer touted its passage in her 2020 State of the State address.

That kind of rare political cooperation was not what Sgt. Matt Richmond, a detective with the Traverse City Police Department, was thinking about, however, on a workday in mid-October.

A local 16-year-old, who'd been on the run after being charged with a felony in an alleged road rage stabbing, had just been located in Florida.

Two TCPD detectives, plane tickets in hand, were on their way to the Sunshine State to bring Aiden Tatman of Traverse City back to northern Michigan to face charges.

"I made 25 calls trying to find a place for him," Richmond said. "What I kept hearing was, 'Call back tomorrow.'"

That's because a stipulation of the new "Raise the Age" laws, colloquially referred to as the "sight and sound" provision, took effect Oct. 1.

It states Michigan's criminal justice system can no longer hold anyone aged 17 or younger, within 500 feet of an adult prisoner.

Juveniles who were already incarcerated with adults either needed to be moved to a more appropriate location, transferred to a juvenile facility or released, records show.

Even if, like Tatman, a prosecutor had decided to charge him as an adult.

Capt. Chris Barsheff, administrator of Grand Traverse County's jail, confirmed the facility has no cells out of "sight and sound" of the adults incarcerated there.

Richmond had about 18 hours to find an appropriate placement for Tatman and it wasn't enough time.

"I had two verbal commits, and we actually had two court orders to house him at two different facilities and they both called back and said, 'We can't do it,'" Richmond said.

Facilities were either full, didn't accept "out-county" kids, had beds available but not enough staff or had a bed available when Richmond called, but then by the time he called back to arrange transport, the bed was full, he said.

Tatman was eventually lodged in a holding cell inside 86th District Court on Washington Street, before being transferred to a facility in Macomb County, 250 miles away.

Jason Smith, executive director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice in Ann Arbor, confirmed that he'd heard about the backlogs of juveniles waiting for placements.

"I can't speak to why one community decides to fund a facility and another one doesn't," said Smith said. "But if Grand Traverse did the rounds and they landed on Macomb, if nothing was available closer to home, I think that is a larger question, a larger story, of what's going on."

Richmond said he'd tried facilities closer to home, but no dice.

"All over the state," he said, referring to a list he used to call one phone number after another. "Wayne County, Washtenaw, Shawano, the Sault, Ottawa County, Ogemaw County, Monroe County, Missaukee, Midland, Lenawee, Kent County, Kalamazoo, Jackson, Genessee, Evart, Eaton County, Calhoun, Berrien County. I called Bay Pines Center in Bay County, I called Muskegon and Allegan."

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg agreed the issue is dire — both for law enforcement, the courts and families of juveniles accused of a crime.

"We have nothing," Moeggenberg said. "There are many times when these kids have to be placed so far away, it prevents parents from visiting at all. Having a juvenile facility here is a huge need."

In Aiden Tatman's case, the issue of visitation is further complicated by recent charges filed against Tatman's mother, Brooke Tatman, records show.

Officials accuse Brooke Tatman of aiding her son's absconding to Florida and she faces two charges in 86th District Court — a felony charge of accessory after the fact and a charge of lying to a police officer during a criminal investigation.

Brooke Tatman was also returned to Traverse City from Florida, though since she is an adult, a corrections transport vendor was hired to bring her back, records show.

The county, and the city, have now paid out thousands in plane tickets, an overnight stay in a hotel, a rental car and overtime incurred by detectives and corrections officers, in order to return the Tatmans to Michigan and to house Aiden.

Whether those funds will be reimbursed is questionable, officials said.

Court records show a plea offer to Brooke Tatman could include restitution, though officials said that's no guarantee a judge will agree or that the money will be paid back.

"I know in the past, trying to recoup some of the expenses that get added on to the restitution can be difficult," Richmond said. "Some people are never able to pay it back. Some people won't pay it back."

A general overview of the "Raise the Age" legislation states that, as of Oct. 1, the state is to reimburse 100 percent of the cost to provide juvenile justice services to 17-year-olds, but not for younger teens with cases already in existence.

Aiden Tatman was charged with assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, a 10-year felony, on Aug. 13.

The charges stem from accusations Tatman on Aug. 8 stabbed a motorist through his car window in a road rage incident on Carver Street in Traverse City.

The felony complaint was signed by Christopher Tholen, deputy civil council for Grand Traverse County, who said the level of violence is a consideration when charging a juvenile as an adult.

"There are very few charges where a juvenile can be charged as an adult," Tholen said. "It's done very seldom, and even then only in rather violent offenses. This is one of those."

Attorney Matias Johnson represents Aiden Tatman, court records show, and attorney Matthew Connolly represents Brooke Tatman. Neither returned calls seeking comment Friday.

A combined preliminary exam is scheduled for the Tatmans on Nov. 23 in 86th Distict Court, records show.