Senate panel advances SB 18 to set minimum prosecution age, adds procedural clarifications

A Virginia Senate subcommittee voted 8–2 to report Senate Bill 18 with amendments that would clarify juvenile court procedures while affirming the bill’s aim to prevent prosecution of children 10 and under.

Senator Locke, the bill’s patron, told the committee SB 18 would amend the juvenile code “to clarify that children 10 years and under should not be criminalized and best served through existing systems of services.” Supporters, including representatives of RISE for Youth and the Virginia State Conference NAACP, urged lawmakers to “decriminalize childhood” and back the legislation.

Amy Walters of the Legal Aid Justice Center and Teresa Kimonos of Human Rights for Kids testified in support. Walters described operational details and warned of a brief procedural gap when a child charged at age 11 might need transfer into a CHINS (child in need of services) case. Kimonos cited developmental research and transcript-cited data from the Virginia Department of General Justice about delinquency complaints filed from 2012–2024 and urged a favorable vote.

Beth Coyne of the Office of Executive Secretary for the Supreme Court of Virginia said OES does not oppose the bill’s policy but raised a court-process concern at the language beginning around line 375: the bill must make clear who may file a petition to have a child declared a CHINS and how a delinquency matter would be converted without depriving the child of counsel. OES explained that a delinquency petition is a criminal matter and CHINS is civil; public defenders who represent juveniles in delinquency cases do not generally represent children in CHINS matters. Counsel and members discussed drafting changes to require dismissal of a delinquency petition for an under‑age child and allow the Commonwealth to file a CHINS petition, with expungement/dismissal language to prevent retained records from leaving a child in limbo.

The committee instructed counsel to draft amendments addressing those procedural concerns, then moved and seconded a report of SB 18 with amendments. The clerk opened the roll; the bill was reported with amendments by a vote of 8 to 2. The committee’s action advances the bill to the next stage with clarified procedural language to be incorporated before full committee consideration.

Next steps: counsel will prepare the agreed amendments clarifying dismissal/transfer procedure and filing authority for CHINS petitions; the subcommittee’s report sends the amended bill toward full committee consideration.