Background: In juvenile offender matters, prior felony adjudications count as one point each on the juvenile disposition grid. Each prior violation, misdemeanor, or gross misdemeanor adjudication counts as one-fourth point. A violation may include any act or omission, which if committed by an adult, that must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and is punishable by sanctions that do not include incarceration.

Taking a Motor Vehicle Without Permission – First Degree. If a juvenile is adjudicated of the above offense, the court must impose the following minimum sentence:

prior criminal history score of 0 to 1/2 point – standard sentence range of no less than five days of home detention, 45 hours of community restitution, and a $200 fine.
prior criminal history score of 3/4 to 1-1/2 points – standard sentence range of no less than ten days of detention, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.
prior criminal history score of 2+ points – standard sentence range of no less than 15-36 weeks of confinement, seven days of home detention, four months of supervision, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.

Theft of Motor Vehicle or Possession of Stolen Vehicle. If a juvenile is adjudicated of one of the above offenses, the court must impose the following minimum sentence:

prior criminal history score of 0 to 1/2 point – standard sentence range that includes either: no less than five days of home detention and 45 hours of community restitution or no home detention and 90 hours of community restitution.
prior criminal history score of 3/4 to 1-1/2 points – standard sentence range that includes no less than ten days of detention, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.
prior criminal history score of 2+ points – standard sentence range that includes no less than 15 to 36 weeks of confinement, seven days of home detention, four months of supervision, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.

Taking Motor Vehicle without Permission – Second Degree. If a juvenile is adjudicated of the above offense, the court must impose the following minimum sentence:

prior criminal history score of 0 to 1/2 point – standard sentence range includes either no less than one day of home detention, one month of community supervision, and 15 hours of community restitution or no home detention, one month of supervision, and 30 hours of community restitution.
prior criminal history score of 3/4 to 1-1/2 points – standard sentence range includes no less than one day of detention, two days of home detention, two months of supervision, 30 hours of community restitution, and a $150 fine.
prior criminal history score of 2+ points – standard sentence range of no less than three days of detention, seven days of home detention, three months of supervision, 45 hours of community restitution, and a $150 fine.

Summary of Bill: The standard sentence ranges are changed for the following offenses.

Taking a Motor Vehicle Without Permission - First Degree. If a juvenile is adjudicated of the above offense, the court must impose the following minimum sentence:

prior criminal history score of 0 to 1/2 point – standard sentence range of three months of community supervision, 45 hours of community restitution, and a $200 fine.
prior criminal history score of 3/4 to 1-1/2 points – standard sentence range of no less than ten days of detention, six months of community supervision, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.
prior criminal history score of 2+ points – standard sentence range of no less than 15-36 weeks of commitment to Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration (JRA), four months of parole supervision, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.

Theft of Motor Vehicle or Possession of Stolen Vehicle. If a juvenile is adjudicated of one of the above offenses, the court must impose the following minimum sentence:

prior criminal history score of 0 to 1/2 point – standard sentence range that includes no less than three months of community supervision, 45 hours of community restitution, and a $200 fine.
prior criminal history score of 3/4 to 1-1/2 points – standard sentence range that includes no less than six months of community supervision, no less than ten days of detention, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.
prior criminal history score of 2+ points – no less than 15 to 36 weeks of commitment to JRA, four months of parole supervision, 90 hours of community restitution, and a $400 fine.

Taking Motor Vehicle without Permission - Second Degree. If a juvenile is adjudicated of the above offense, the court must impose the following minimum sentence:

prior criminal history score of 0 to 1/2 point – standard sentence range includes three months of community supervision and 15 hours of community restitution.
prior criminal history score of 3/4 to 1-1/2 points – standard sentence range includes no less than one day of detention, three months of supervision, 30 hours of community restitution, and a $150 fine.
prior criminal history score of 2+ points – standard sentence range of no less than three days of detention, six months of community supervision, 45 hours of community restitution, and a $150 fine.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: The largest part of this bill is clarification of some of the changes made during the 2007 session in the Omnibus Auto Theft bill. After that bill passed, and juvenile court administrators and courts implemented the changes affecting juvenile offenders, they discovered that the implementation of the bill was not uniform across the state. For example, the portion of the sentence that would require that a juvenile be committed to JRA requires that the juvenile be supervised upon his or her release from JRA. The bill clarifies that the supervision be parole supervision and not community supervision because it is the parole officers that should be doing the supervision not community probation folks. The portion dealing with the use of home detention was interpreted differently across the state. Generally, home detention is not used with juveniles and is understood to mean electronic monitoring or house arrest when applied to adults. Only about half the counties use electronic home monitoring because of a variety of reasons; therefore, in those counties that do not, juveniles were sentenced to incarceration in the juvenile detention facilities and in other counties, juveniles were electronically monitored. The result of this implementation was that some juveniles were treated more strictly than others for the same offense. This bill would assist in making sure the implementation is more uniform across the state.

CON: The juvenile justice system is to be concerned with rehabilitation, and mandatory minimum sentences in the Juvenile Code go against that philosophy. The portions of the bill requiring home detention should remain in the bill and the portions about electronic home monitoring can be removed.