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Committee reviews bill to bar detention for juvenile status offenses
Summary
The Juvenile Justice Committee reviewed Bill 3,655, which would largely prohibit detention or commitment for status offenses such as truancy and incorrigibility and create a family-process alternative; members discussed amendments and timing for committee referral.
The Juvenile Justice Committee on Tuesday discussed Bill 3,655, a measure filed by Representative Calhoun that would limit detention and commitment for status offenses and steer families toward a formal process instead of confinement.
Lawmakers said the draft aims to keep children charged with offenses that would be crimes for adults — commonly truancy and incorrigibility — out of detention. "We're talking about Bill 3,655, right?" a committee member asked as the group opened its review. One member said anecdotally that a high share of residents at the Broad River facility are there for status offenses, an observation he flagged as a reason to change detention practice.
Director Hendrick of the Department of Juvenile Justice told the panel the children's joint committee bill is "pretty comprehensive when it addresses status offenses" and believed it already incorporates language to end detention and commitment for those cases. Lawmakers said they expect to amend the draft to fold in language from the committee's prior work and to resolve technical issues before the judiciary subcommittee reviews it.
Committee members clarified they would not vote on the bill at the meeting; instead, members who support the measure may add their names as co-sponsors, and the proposal will move through the subcommittee and judiciary process where testimony and amendments are expected. The committee emphasized the intent to separate youths charged with status offenses from the more serious population in secure facilities.
The discussion left several details to be refined in subsequent drafting, including the precise limits on commitment, related evaluation procedures, and how the bill will interact with provisions elsewhere in the juvenile code.
