Allegheny County Council on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to settle its lawsuit against the county and the nonprofit running the newly reopened Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.

The 13-1 vote, with one abstention, brings to an end a power struggle between council and the county executive over who gets to call the shots about running the long-troubled facility, now called Highland Detention at Shuman Center.

The suit, filed last year, accused the previous county administration of entering into a contract with Latrobe-based Adelphoi to run the detention center without prior approval from council.

The county, though, said council’s vote was unnecessary because the five-year, $73 million contract is for a service, not for “use and control” of county-owned property.

Shuman, in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood, closed in September 2021 after Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services revoked its license following years of violations.

For nearly three years afterward, juveniles in need of detention were either held at Allegheny County Jail, sent to facilities hours away from Pittsburgh or released to their families.

Following extensive renovations, which are ongoing, Shuman reopened in July with the capacity to hold 12 children. It is expected to reach a maximum capacity of 60 in about 18 months.

Although the lawsuit was initially filed to challenge the county executive’s office over how it uses the Home Rule Charter, some council members also questioned the length and cost of the contract with Adelphoi, as well as what oversight the county would have.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, D-North Side, was the lone vote against the settlement, saying it provided nothing that council had been seeking through the lawsuit.

“I think it is a waste of taxpayer money to have spent the money that we spent on litigation, to just give up and accept that we’re wiping our hands clean of a really big responsibility of ours,” Hallam said. “I think it is disingenuous to act like we are advocating for our constituents and working in their best interest and agreeing to this settlement, which doesn’t give council any authority over what happens in Shuman.”

But Hallam’s colleagues disagreed, noting that the settlement gives council the ability to make nominations for one of the 10 seats on the Juvenile Detention Advisory Board; requires Adelphoi to make substantive, regular reports to council; and requires council approval for any contract extension after the five-year term.

Councilman Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, said it was time to move on.

“As far as trying to have oversight over this facility and be able to do that, that’s not within our responsibilities, that’s not within our duties,” he said. “It’s just oversight of real estate, and again, we’re not giving anybody the building.

“The best thing we can do is get this thing off our plate.”

Councilman Paul Klein, D-Shadyside, said the lawsuit was never intended to give council oversight into how Shuman is operated.

“The scope of the lawsuit was pretty narrow, but it was significant because it spoke to the respective powers of the two branches of government that are in place here,” he said. “I think that what we have to keep in mind is that it was really about defining the respective responsibilities of the executive branch and council.”

In a statement Tuesday night after the meeting, County Executive Sara Innamorato praised the settlement.

“I am committed to building an administration that will serve the people of this great county,” she said. “Council’s vote tonight shows they too want to move beyond past tensions and work together on issues impacting our neighbors, community, and region.”

Councilman DeWitt Walton, D-Hill District, was the lone abstention.

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