Juvenile Hall Renamed for Barry Nidorf

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to rename the San Fernando Valley Juvenile Hall after retired Chief Probation Officer Barry J. Nidorf.

Nidorf, who retired in March, was instrumental in leading the Probation Department through seven years of rough fiscal waters, including a near collapse of the county government in 1995 and many years of budget cuts.

For 13 years, Nidorf was in charge of the nation’s largest Probation Department with an annual budget of $350 million and 4,150 employees. The department also supervises 80,000 adult and 16,000 juvenile offenders.

The chief developed the nation’s first juvenile boot camps at Camp Munz and Camp Mendenhall near Lake Hughes. He also developed crime prevention programs that stress early intervention rather than punishment--programs that have become models for probation departments nationwide.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a high school classmate of Nidorf’s, called him a “man of integrity, vision and leadership who will be remembered as a great leader.”

The facility, at 16350 Filbert St., will immediately be known as the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall.