ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bernalillo County leaders are trying to make improvements to its Juvenile Detention Center after a “major disturbance” on Christmas Day, when 13 teens locked themselves inside a room for hours and destroyed it.

Staffing issues at the detention center are the main concern, according to county leaders. County Manager Julie Morgas Baca says they are making significant progress on that front.

“We recently had a rapid hiring event, and so we are actually going to bring in 12 to join the academy and 18 just graduated, so they’ll be ready to do some training and get those boots on the ground, so that we can get our staffing levels up and accept more of the youth into our facility,” Morgas Baca said.

County officials say how many officers they have determines how many juveniles they can accept into the detention center. In January, they were at full capacity and notified law enforcement they could not take in any more teens. Right now, the ratio is eight residents to one employee.

After the disturbance on Christmas Day, three teens were charged for their involvement. Morgas Baca says they’ve been working with county, state, and city partners since that incident.

“We’re very fortunate to have great partners in CYFD, in the governor’s office, who has really stepped up and has offered assistance to the facility,” Morgas Baca said. “Also we have the courts who have also stepped up and so they’re trying to get these youth adjudicated through the system. They’re helping with that. And then we also have the public defender’s office, the DHS office.”

During a recent interview with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, KOB 4 asked her about the state stepping in to help the Juvenile Detention Center.

“We agree with you, we don’t have enough oversight by local bodies of government who, in large part, run the juvenile detention systems or centers,” Lujan Grisham said. “In addition, they haven’t asked for any money.”

KOB 4 asked Morgas Baca if the county had asked for help.

“Currently, it looks like our staffing levels have increased,” Morgas Baca said. “But we also have that in our back pocket. So if we need to reach out to them, and we need that additional staff – absolutely.”

Morgas Baca did say the governor’s public health order on guns has played a role in getting more teens behind bars, but that it has been manageable. The county manager also said they have been working with the families of the youth in the center to address concerns – some of those include providing better education and making sure they have clean clothes and sheets while in the center.