As detentions continue to decline, Kenosha County is budgeting less spending on juvenile intake services in 2010.

The Department of Juvenile Court Intake Services plans to spend nearly $250,000 less on detention services, as a three-year, 18-bed-per-day contract with Racine County’s juvenile detention facility winds down at the end of this year.

Mary Beier, the department’s director, said a 12-bed contract more closely reflects recent detention trends. Since 1998, the county’s average daily juvenile detention population has dropped from 15 to 11, Beier said.

This comes as juvenile arrests charted by the Kenosha Police Department are also showing declines, and, Beier said, as a closer look is being given to the disproportionate rate of minorities being held in detention.

The County Board’s Finance Committee unanimously approved the juvenile intake budget Wednesday night, along with spending plans for other county law enforcement entities.

“Less juveniles are in jail,” said Supervisor John O’Day, the committee’s chairman. “That’s a good thing.”

Beier said Racine County has yet to offer the county a new contract. She said her department is considering contracting with Rock or Washington counties, the latter of which has offered up a $115-per-day, per-bed deal. The deal with Racine is approximately $135 per day, per bed.

Other budgets approved unanimously Wednesday:

— A $35 million Sheriff’s Department budget that keeps personnel levels static while accounting for decreased revenue from housing federal inmates.

Sheriff David Beth and members of the committee debated the merits of adding positions versus spending on overtime pay — an item that accounts for about $1.4 million of the budget. Beth noted that overtime has decreased dramatically over the last several years.

— A City-County Joint Services budget that calls for splitting costs evenly between the city and county until an intergovernmental agreement, expected in the coming months, is finalized.

— Budgets for the Circuit Court, the district attorney’s office, emergency management, corporation counsel and county libraries.