HB 3900-S3.E - DIGEST

(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

     Makes revisions to provisions relating to juvenile law.

     Requires the department of corrections and juvenile rehabilitation administration to report to the legislature by December 1, 1998, on the feasibility and desirability of placing juvenile offender services under the department of corrections.  The report must also address other measures, such as colocation of facilities and jointly providing services, that would not require transferring juvenile offender services to the department of corrections.

     Provides that an offender under the age of eighteen who is convicted in adult criminal court of a crime and who is committed for a term of confinement in a jail as defined in RCW 70.48.020, must be housed in a jail cell that does not contain adult offenders, until the offender reaches the age of eighteen.

     Finds that community deterioration and family disintegration are increasing problems in our state.  One clear indicator of this damage is juvenile crime and violence.  The legislature further finds that prevention is one of the best methods of fighting juvenile crime.  Building more facilities to house juvenile offenders can be at best only one part of any solution.  Any increased spending on confining juvenile offenders must be closely linked to existing efforts to prevent juvenile crime.

     Repeals RCW 9.94A.045, 13.40.025, 13.40.0354, 13.40.125, and 13.40.075.

     Introduced with sponsors from the opposite house.