The Tacoma News Tribune reports that the arrest rate for juveniles has decreased statewide in 2004. The article references the website for the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, but I couldn't see the 2004 report on the site. I did find the 2003 annual report, however. Digging in the report a little reveals that last year Thurston County actually had higher than average juvenile arrests when compared with the rest of the state (including larger counties like King and Pierce):

In 2003, counties with juvenile populations age 10-17 over 5,000, with an arrest rate above the statewide average of 54.0 per 1,000 juveniles...include Benton, Chelan, Clallam, Cowlitz, Franklin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Okanogan, Skagit, Thurston, Walla Walla, Whatcom, and Yakama.

Thurston County's rate was 60.1 for 2003. Rural counties seemed to be generally higher than urban counties. It will be interesting to see the breakdown for 2004, and whether Thurston County is still higher than the state average. Is the urban/rural difference due to meth? Anybody know?

[update 9/28/05]

I have it from a reliable source that the urban/rural difference is due to meth. Did you know that at its highest (1994), the arrest rate for juveniles was nearly 1 in 10 (95.4/1k)?