SENATE BILL REPORT

                            HB 2242

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON LAW & JUSTICE, FEBRUARY 25, 1994

Brief Description:  Authorizing the department of corrections to transfer juveniles under age eighteen to juvenile correctional institutions.

SPONSORS: Representatives Leonard, Cooke, Wolfe, Morris, L. Johnson, J. Kohl, Roland, Karahalios and Springer; by request of Department of Corrections and Department of Social and Health Services

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CORRECTIONS

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LAW & JUSTICE

Majority Report:  Do pass. 

     Signed by Senators A. Smith, Chairman; Ludwig, Vice Chairman; Hargrove, Nelson, Niemi, Quigley, Roach, Schow and Spanel.

Staff:  Susan Carlson (786‑7418)

Hearing Dates: February 25, 1994

BACKGROUND:

Under the Juvenile Justice Act, the juvenile court may decline jurisdiction over an offender under the age of 18 and transfer the case to superior court.  If convicted, the offender is sentenced as an adult and would serve any term of confinement in an adult correctional facility.  However, if the offender is under the age of 16, current law allows the child to be transferred to a juvenile institution until the age of 18.  This decision is made by the Secretary of the Department of Corrections with the consent of the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services. 

It has been suggested that the age limits in the current law should be reconsidered.

SUMMARY:

A child under the age of 18 may be transferred from an adult correctional institution to a juvenile institution and may remain there until the age of 21.

The Secretary of the Department of Corrections is required to make an independent assessment and evaluation of the offender before transferring him or her to a juvenile facility.  The secretary must determine that the needs and correctional goals for the child could be better met by the juvenile correctional institution.

Both the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services must regularly review the offender's placement in the juvenile institution.

Appropriation:  none

Revenue:  none

Fiscal Note:  available

TESTIMONY FOR:

The bill is an extension of current policy which provides for placement of juveniles in an appropriate institutional environment.

TESTIMONY AGAINST:  None

TESTIFIED:  PRO:  Jim Thatcher, Department of Corrections; Carol Porter, Division of Juvenile Rehabilitation