Dallas County names new director of juvenile services

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H. Lynn Hadnot

The Dallas County Juvenile Board on Friday announced its next Director of Juvenile Services.

Judge Cheryl Lee-Shannon announced the board would look towards neighboring Collin County, offering H. Lynn Hadnot the role. Hadnot currently serves in the same position in Collin County.

What We Know: Hadnot serves as Collin County Juvenile Services Director.

In a release, Shannon said Hadnot is expected to be appointed in Dallas County during the Juvenile Board's Jan. 27, 2025, meeting.

What They're Saying: "It is our expectation that Mr. Hadnot will correct deficiencies and build further of the services that are done well in Dallas," Shannon said in a release.

Shannon went on to praise the work of Interim Director Mike Griffiths, who has been in charge of the agency since August.

"He has made necessary changes and has laid a solid foundation on which Mr. Hadnot can build," Shannon said.

The Backstory: The agency has been under fire for several months after whistleblower reports of inhumane conditions inside the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Center.

State inspectors paid an unannounced visit to the facility in July, prompting then director Darryl Beatty to resign.

The visit prompted the Texas Office of the Inspector General to open a new investigation into the facility.

A report released in September found a program called the Special Needs Unit that operated without policy or procedure. The practice allowed the facility to circumvent state standards.

Multiple juveniles were confined to their rooms, sometimes 24 hours a day, without access to education, exercise or showers.

The result was systematic neglect that staff, educators and administrators past and present were aware of.

Investigators wrote that former director Darryl Beatty had ample opportunity to take corrective action.

"The most troubling of the report is that youth were held for long periods of time, sometimes days in their rooms and regardless of whether that was a product of the pandemic, the COVID crisis, it was a practice that should have been discontinued immediately when staffing levels actually went up," said Mike Griffiths, the interim director of the Dallas County Juvenile Department.

Inspectors found what could be criminal: Pervasive falsification of documents as it related to observation checks. By state law, those must happen every 15 minutes overnight when residents are in rooms. The checks did not happen.

What's Next: The Dallas County Juvenile Board next meets on Jan. 27, 2025.