This bill would implement the recommendations of the Alabama Juvenile Justice Task Force and would substantially revise provisions relating to the juvenile justice system in this state.
This bill would expand early interventions to address the needs of certain youth prior to court involvement.
This bill would require development of a statewide detention risk assessment tool for pre-adjudication detention decisions and would establish standards for informal adjustments for certain youth.
This bill would modify the list of offenses committed by a child 14 years of age or more that may be transferred to district or circuit court for prosecution and would modify the list of offenses committed by a person 16 years of age or more that are not subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
This bill would further provide for the duration of consent decrees suspending delinquency or child in need of supervision proceedings, and would remove the assessment of fines, fees, or court costs against children under certain conditions while maintaining the ability to assess them against the parents of those children.
This bill would specify those offenses that would subject a child to placement with the Department of Youth Services and would establish presumptions for the length of supervision ordered by a juvenile court.
This bill would require local boards of education to inform parents of services available relating to absenteeism and other school-related misconduct and would require the Alabama Department of Education to require each local board of education to annually develop, approve, and submit multi-disciplinary agreements in collaboration with community stakeholders relating to appropriate responses to school-based offenses, court referrals, and accountability.
This bill would create the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Fund, administered by the Department of Youth Services, for the reinvestment into evidence-based programs in the community of averted costs from reduction in the department's custody and placement of youth in residential facilities.
This bill would create the Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee to oversee implementation of changes to the juvenile justice system.
This bill would require the Administrative Office of Courts and the Department of Youth Services to develop, adopt, and validate a risk and needs assessment to identify a child's risk to reoffend and needs that, if addressed, would likely reduce reoffending.
This bill would also require an adjudication as a child in need of supervision, rather than as delinquent or a criminal defendant, if the child is charged with voluntary sexual conduct between minors.
Read for the first time and referred to the Senate committee on Finance and Taxation Education
Source: Alabama Legislature