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Subcommittee advances bill to require use of courtrooms built inside juvenile detention facilities
Summary
The Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee advanced House Bill 797 on March 11, 2025, requiring juvenile court judges to use county‑provided courtrooms inside juvenile detention facilities if those courtrooms meet Administrative Office of the Courts standards.
The Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee advanced House Bill 797 on March 11, 2025, requiring juvenile court judges to use courtrooms provided by counties inside juvenile detention facilities if those courtrooms meet Administrative Office of the Courts standards. The subcommittee added amendment 4903 and moved the bill to the judiciary committee pool.
The sponsor said the bill responds to cases in which counties built courtrooms inside juvenile detention facilities for security and safety but judges have chosen instead to hold hearings elsewhere, increasing transport costs and security risks. “If public dollars have been spent to construct a facility, then that facility should be utilized as a primary, venue for for hearing these juvenile cases,” the sponsor said during committee discussion.
The sponsor cited the new Youth Justice and Education Center at 3420 GetWell as a local example where a courtroom was built into a detention facility. Committee members discussed sheriff transports and the expense of moving juveniles offsite; the sponsor said the measure applies to the state’s four largest counties (not specified by name during the hearing).
An amendment, labeled 4903, was offered and approved by voice vote to be added to HB 797. The clerk recorded five ayes on the amendment and on the motion to move HB 797, as amended, to the judiciary pool. The subcommittee did not record any individual names in the roll call announced on the record; the clerk reported the tally as five ayes.
The bill’s sponsor framed the proposal as a stewardship issue — ensuring facilities paid for with public dollars are used as intended and that juvenile transports are reduced for security and cost reasons. Committee members did not identify a statutory change to court authority in the hearing; the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) facility standards were referenced as the applicable facility requirement.
The subcommittee action was procedural: amendment 4903 was adopted and HB 797 as amended was referred to the judiciary committee for further consideration.
