Welcome to the official Internet gateway to the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. This website was created to allow citizens all across this state and country greater accessibility to the Department, its staff, and its programs. If you need further information, please feel free to contact us.

As Commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice I am responsible for a very select population of young people. Although these youth make up a small portion of Georgia’s youthful population, their behaviors make our agency necessary. Despite their delinquent behavior patterns, this group of youngsters remains a part of the many communities of Georgia. Because they too represent the future of Georgia, they cannot and should not be written off.

Here at the Department of Juvenile Justice, we believe these youth need every opportunity to turn their lives around and become productive citizens. It is our belief that given the right kind of attention and treatment, many of these youngsters can be redirected and that there is some "hope" for them.

While habilitation of these youth is our primary goal, public safety for the citizens of Georgia is paramount, and juvenile crime must not detract from this. We must not take for granted the many victims of juvenile crime and potential victims who deserve a better quality of life for themselves and their families.

Part of my vision for our agency includes investing heavily in developing relationships and consensus building with the many community leaders and stakeholders of Georgia. These key people can help us shape and mold public policy as it applies to the management of youthful offenders. We will be evaluating and continuously re-evaluating those programs and services for offenders which have produced good results. We will seek to make a greater investment in these programs and enhance the overall delivery system with the addition of some new programs. Through this, we intend to assure that we (DJJ) are making the absolute best use of available resources and that "the best interest of the kids" will drive every decision we make.

While we believe that all of our intentions are genuine and reflect our commitment to at risk children in Georgia, we recognize that it will be our actions, more than our intent that will provide the best measure of future progress made by DJJ.

Thank you for your interest in the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.

Albert Murray
Commissioner