Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Juvenile Justice topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee adopts amendments to juvenile-timing bill after negotiations between DAs and defenders
Summary
Representatives and prosecutors said updated timelines for juvenile adjudications reflect modern investigative needs; defenders raised concerns about new confidentiality language. Committee adopted negotiated amendments and reported House Bill 140 as amended.
Representative Cox told the committee House Bill 140 aims to recalibrate time limitations governing juvenile delinquency proceedings. The sponsor said the bill and negotiated amendments were the product of weeks of work between district attorneys and criminal-defense representatives.
Douglas Rushton from the Jefferson Parish district attorney’s juvenile division described amendments that require notice between parishes for out-of-parish juvenile arrests and increase certain timing windows to allow for modern investigative demands — including volume of digital and body-camera evidence. He said the earlier timelines date to 1992 and do not reflect current investigative realities.
Representatives of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers told the committee they had worked with the sponsor and removed an objection to the bill early in negotiations, but some speakers objected to newly added confidentiality language in the administration amendments and urged careful review. Committee adopted the amendment set and reported the bill as amended.
