For most boys, turning 16 means they can get a driver's license and take their first step into the adult world.

For his 16th birthday on Sunday, Thurston shootings defendant Kip Kinkel got a ride from the Skipworth juvenile detention facility to the very grown-up world of the Lane County Jail.

Under Oregon law, children younger than 16 can't be held in adult facilities.

Sunday marked the first day that relieved Lane County Youth Services officials could turn their high-profile ward over to the sheriff's office, which operates the jail.

Kinkel was lodged in the jail at 3:40 p.m. Sunday. The transfer was completed without incident, a spokesman for the Lane County sheriff's office said. Earlier, worried about security, jail officials had declined to say when they would move Kinkel.

Kinkel is awaiting trial on four counts of aggravated murder for the killings of his parents, Bill and Faith Kinkel, and of fellow Thurston High School students Mikael Nickolauson and Ben Walker. He's also accused of wounding two dozen other students in the May 21 shootings in the school cafeteria.

Although he was only 15 at the time of the shootings, Kinkel was charged as an adult under the terms of Measure 11, the 1994 anti-crime initiative. The measure imposed mandatory sentences for certain felonies and required that juveniles as young as 15 be tried as adults for serious crimes such as murder.

The transfer wasn't a lengthy trip; the jail at 101 W. Fifth Ave. in downtown Eugene is only 1.8 miles from Skipworth, which is on Centennial Boulevard across from Autzen Stadium. But for Kinkel, the place where he will wait out his days until trial has changed completely.

Skipworth is part of a tree-lined campus that has large playing fields, a baseball field and gym. The detention wing has 36 beds and Kinkel was of average age and size there. Although he was not disruptive or argumentative with staff during his stay there, Skipworth officials were looking forward to his transfer - in part because Skipworth was not designed as a maximum security facility.

In addition, notorious residents such as Kinkel have a "swagger effect" on the other kids held at Skipworth, said Chuck Ryer, assistant director of the Youth Services Department.

"They either want to be the guy who takes out Kip Kinkel or they want to be his buddy and help him plan his escape," Ryer said.

The "swagger effect" took hold even though the other juveniles had no contact whatsoever with Kinkel during his three-month stay, Ryer said.

Kinkel was confined by himself in a room and was on "move alone" status when staff escorted him to the Skipworth gym for exercise or elsewhere within the facility. At most, the other residents could have caught a glimpse of Kinkel out the door windows of their rooms as he was moved through the hallways, Ryer said.

Because he would soon be moved and was facing trial in the adult system, there was little point in engaging him in the rehabilitative activities or programs that other juvenile offenders take part in, Ryer said.

Most children held at Skipworth attend school within the facility and take part in such things as anger management classes.

"That doesn't happen with Measure 11 kids," Ryer said. "Mainly we were acting on behalf of the sheriff, keeping him safe and keeping the other kids safe from him."

In addition, much of Kinkel's time was taken up by visits from his defense team and others, Ryer said. An inmate classification specialist and a mental health specialist from the jail interviewed Kinkel recently in preparation for his transfer, he said.

The sheriff's office sent over a pair of deputies to guard Kinkel during visits with his sister, Kristin Kinkel, another source said. It was unclear whether she visited him on Sunday or if he observed his birthday in any fashion. Kristin Kinkel has declined to talk with the news media. Her attorney, Don Loomis, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

At the county jail, a looming concrete blockhouse that has room for 311 prisoners, Kinkel will be the youngest person in custody.

He will be held in the maximum security unit and will be locked alone in his cell for 23 hours a day. He will take his meals in his cell but will be allowed to use the unit's dayroom one hour per day, Lt. Bud Spencer of the sheriff's department said.

The dayroom has a television, books, newspapers, playing cards and a telephone on which prisoners can make collect calls. Prisoners usually watch cartoons instead of news programs but Kinkel would be able to read newspaper accounts of his case, Spencer said.

Because of Kinkel's youth and the nature of the allegations, no other inmates will be allowed in the dayroom with him, at least to start, Spencer said.

Prisoners accused of hurting children are on the lower rung of the inmate "caste system," Spencer said.

State statute requires that deputies check inmates every hour, but Kinkel will be on "suicide watch" and checked every 15 minutes, he said.

Kinkel will be allowed to walk around the jail's outdoor exercise yard for 50 minutes once a week. He will have visiting rights of 48 minutes per week.

He is scheduled to stand trial next April.