Lawmakers briefed on H.2 to raise juvenile minimum age to 12, delay 19-year-old expansion to 2027

Representative Martin Malone of South Burlington, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Legislative Counsel staff walked members of the Senate Judiciary Committee through H.2 on the bill’s provisions, timeline and reporting requirements.

The bill would raise the minimum age at which a young person may be subject to juvenile (family-division) proceedings from 10 to 12, remove an existing exception that allowed a juvenile filing for murder against a child under the minimum age, lengthen the period the family division may retain jurisdiction for certain older youth, and delay the planned inclusion of 19‑year‑olds in the family-division model until 2027. Committee members were told the measure also continues and refines reporting requirements for the Department for Children and Families (DCF), including data requests about the Red Clover treatment facility.

Why it matters: where an alleged offender is processed — family division (juvenile) versus criminal division — changes case confidentiality, oversight and potential supervision. Under current law the family division’s lower age limit is 10; H.2 would move that floor to 12 and eliminate the separate carve-out for murder, meaning children under 12 would generally not be processed in juvenile court regardless of offense. The bill would also repeal the April 1, 2025 effective date that would have…