Longtime leaders out at Pierce County Juvenile Court. Officials won’t say why
The man who has overseen Pierce County Juvenile Court as its administrator for more than a decade, TJ Bohl, and the court’s longtime probation manager, Kevin Williams, were separated from their positions last week.
The reasons for their sudden departures are unclear. In an announcement, Chris Gaddis, the court executive officer of Superior and Juvenile Courts, said Superior Court Clerk Kevin Stock will take over for Bohl for about six months while a nationwide search is conducted for a permanent replacement.
“We appreciate his service to Pierce County and wish him well,” Gaddis said of Bohl in the written announcement.
Bohl, who had worked at the county’s juvenile detention center, Remann Hall, since 2000, was separated from his position April 15. Bohl had overseen all of the detention center’s operations, except for lawyers and judges, since 2013. He worked in the probation department before that.
Williams was separated from his position April 17. According to Williams’ LinkedIn profile, he had been probation manager since 2014.
The News Tribune was unable to reach Bohl or Williams for comment Monday.
Gaddis declined to answer questions about why Bohl and Williams were no longer employees. He said the court does not comment on personnel matters.
“I can comment that we will continue to provide a high level of service to the youth and families who are involved in our court system,” Gaddis said.
The presiding judge for Juvenile Court, Jennifer Andrews, declined to comment Monday on Bohl’s and Williams’ departures and directed any personnel questions to Gaddis.
The county’s announcement about the leadership change said it might affect work with the court’s community partners but that the transition would not disrupt the court’s work or commitments.
Juvenile Court’s budget for the 2026-2027 biennium is about $55 million, according to county budget documents. In 2023, Bohl’s annual pay was $171,511. Williams’ annual salary was $137,011 that year.
In addition to overseeing Remann Hall, Bohl chaired the steering committee of the state’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative within the Department of Children, Youth and Families. A spokesperson for DCYF confirmed Monday that Bohl is no longer the chair. Williams was also on the committee and is no longer.
The initiative began as a project by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, according to DCYF’s website, and it aims to find safe alternatives to locking up young people accused of a crime and improve conditions inside facilities, among other strategies that seek to better juvenile courts. The foundation is a Baltimore-based nonprofit that has been a longtime partner with Pierce County in its efforts to reform juvenile justice
Pierce County began that shift in strategy in 2003, and the results led to fewer children and teenagers being placed in juvenile detention over the following years and fewer young people being charged with a crime in the first place. In 2016, retired Pierce County Superior Court Judge Tom Larkin told The News Tribune that the county had one of the most progressive juvenile courts in the country in part because Bohl and his staff ran it like a successful business.
Williams was previously part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2022-2024 Children and Family Fellowship. The foundation’s website says it is a prestigious program meant to develop potential leaders of nonprofit, philanthropic and public organizations to improve the lives of children, youth and families.
