Committee advances bill to align detention statute after Supreme Court ruling

Representative Kim Rice introduced SB 413 at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services. The bill would amend RSA 169-B to name the facilities in which alleged delinquent minors may be detained once they reach age 18 while an adjudication remains pending.

Susan Larrabee told the committee the measure responds to a 2024 Supreme Court opinion that identified a gap between committal and detention statutes. She said that while the dispositional statute expressly limits commitment to youth detention centers only until a youth turns 18, the detention statute lacked comparable language and a circuit judge had ordered transfer to an adult facility after the youth reached 18. "The Supreme Court held that 169-B(14) in its current state does not specifically authorize this transfer," Larrabee said, and adding the language would "close that gap."

Members pressed for detail on time frames and the certification-to-adult process; Larrabee summarized statutory deadlines (e.g., detention pending adjudication requires adjudication within 30 days and disposition within 21 days) and explained that juveniles are not to remain at SYSC past their eighteenth birthday. Committee members also asked what would happen when SYSC is replaced; Larrabee described an orderly transfer of populations to a new Hampstead facility.

In executive session Representative Corzine moved 'Ought to Pass' and Representative Rice seconded. The committee recorded a roll-call vote of 14-0 in favor, and the measure was placed on the consent calendar.