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House Judiciary Committee keeps clerk, previews H.2 and juvenile-justice hearings
Summary
At an organizational meeting the House Judiciary Committee reappointed its clerk by voice vote and laid out its early schedule, including a planned hearing on H.2 that would raise the minimum age for certain delinquency proceedings and joint hearings on juvenile justice oversight and court backlogs.
The House Judiciary Committee reappointed Representative Ken Gosland as committee clerk by voice vote and outlined a two-week schedule that will include a first look at H.2, a bill described in committee as raising the minimum age for who may be considered delinquent.
Chair Mark Malone, House Judiciary Committee, opened the organizational meeting and introduced committee members before moving to committee business. "I'm Mark Malone, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. I'm delighted to be do to be doing that again," he said during opening introductions. Malone later nominated Representative Ken Gosland to continue as clerk; the committee approved the nomination by voice vote with members responding "aye." No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
The committee previewed its early agenda. Malone said the committee will meet next week for chair and vice-chair training and then will hold a joint hearing with the House Human Services Committee at the pavilion building to examine educational oversight of the juvenile justice system. "We're gonna be digging deep into kind of educational oversight on the juvenile justice system," Malone said.
Malone told members the committee will likely begin formal consideration of H.2 the following Friday. He described H.2 as a bill "which was introduced today... it raises the age for who is considered or can be, considered delinquent from 10 years to 12 years." Committee members also discussed an existing "raise the age" initiative that previously changed certain delinquency presumptions to age 18 and noted April 1 as a date when that presumption would move to 19; Malone said the committee will review how that schedule interacts with pending bills.
The committee also discussed potential joint work with the Senate Judiciary Committee on court processing and the backlog of cases. "We may be doing that week depending on what I hear from our friends in the senate judiciary is a joint hearing to talk about, court processing, public safety, the backlog," Malone said.
Other topics flagged for later in the session included firearms bills expected in February, driving-while-intoxicated and driving-while-license-suspended issues, and domestic-violence legislation. Malone told members he would confirm specific meeting times and post agendas: "I'll confirm that, by tomorrow." The meeting concluded with the chair noting the committee would return to live session later the same day.
Votes and formal actions recorded in the transcript were limited. The only formal action recorded was the nomination and voice approval for Representative Ken Gosland to continue as committee clerk; the transcript does not record a formal second or a roll-call vote.
Why it matters: The committee's early schedule and the decision to take up H.2 are the first steps in the Judiciary Committee's handling of juvenile-justice legislation this session. The committee's coordination with House Human Services and possible joint work with the Senate Judiciary Committee indicate intercommittee scrutiny of juvenile educational oversight and case-processing backlogs, matters that may affect court resources and services for young people.
The committee said it will post hearing dates and bills as details are confirmed.
