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DAYTON — The public will enter the new Montgomery County Juvenile Justice Center through a high-ceilinged lobby with wood paneled walls and a brightly lit reception desk.

Juvenile offenders, on the other hand, will enter the building in the back of police cars and step out into a secure garage surrounded by cameras, guards and bolted doors.

James Cole, the administrator of the Juvenile Court, said the 210,000-square-foot building's split personality reflects the breadth of its mission.

On one hand, the Juvenile Justice Center is a courthouse with all the dignified trappings that entails. On the other hand, it is a state-of-the-art juvenile detention center capable of keeping as many as 144 inmates safe and secure.

Cole said the center has 14 courtrooms to accommodate two juvenile judges and a dozen magistrates, and the biggest courtroom is for juvenile traffic court. Each courtroom has an adjacent holding cell where juveniles in custody can be held while waiting to appear.

Also housed in the court area are juvenile case prosecutors, public defenders and an army of clerical and administrator personnel.

Psychological services, Children Services Division caseworkers and other programs such as Start Right, which deals with children whose parents fail to send them to school, have offices on the first floor.

An area where family can meet with incarcerated youth also is on the first floor.

The secure detention center is built on a pod system, Cole said. Each of 12 matching pods has sleeping cells for 12 inmates, and the cells are arranged in a curving pattern that leaves no blind corners. A single detention worker can see all areas of the pod at once.

Within each pod is a common sitting area plus rooms where inmates can meet privately with their attorneys or staff counselors. Between each pair of pods is a larger community room for daytime activities.

The detention center has a full kindergarten through 12 charter school, and all inmates are required to attend classes. Judge Nick Kuntz said some inmates have never attended

school on a regular basis, and they can advance several grade levels in a few weeks of daily classes.

The detention area also includes a full gymnasium

and an open air walking space covered by a thick, chain-link canopy.

The secure garage where detainees enter leads to the Intervention Center where they are assessed and directed toward the most appropriate programs.

There are medical facilities where each incoming inmate receives a physical. Judge Kuntz said the court hopes eventually to organize volunteer dentists and eye doctors to provide services for youth within the detention center.