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SB 793 - Under current law, children who are 17 years of age are prosecuted for criminal offenses in courts of general jurisdiction. This act provides that, unless the child is certified as an adult or is being prosecuted for a traffic or curfew violation, children who are 17 years of age must be prosecuted in the juvenile court system. This act repeals a provision of current law making certain amendments to definitions relating to juvenile courts effective upon appropriations by the General Assembly for juvenile officers. Under current law, children between the ages of 12 and 17 who are alleged to have committed certain offenses can be prosecuted in a court of general jurisdiction rather than in juvenile court. Under this act, this age range is changed to a range between 12 and 18 years. Current law allows offenders who are under 17 and a half years of age and have been certified as adults to be eligible for dual jurisdiction of both the juvenile and adult criminal codes. Dual jurisdiction allows an offender who has been found guilty in an adult court to complete a juvenile sentence in a Division of Youth Services facility. This act provides that offenders under the age of 18 are eligible for the program. Under this act, no person under the age of 18 may be detained in an adult jail, unless the person has been certified as an adult. This act has an effective date of January 1, 2021. This act is similar HB 1255 (2018), SB 40 (2017), and HB 274 (2017), and contains provisions similar to SB 685 (2016), HB 1812 (2016), SB 213 (2015), and HB 300 (2015). MIKE WEAVER
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