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Rounds offers plan for juvenile corrections
Posted to NDN AIM by Erthavengr
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Jan.30,2003
By Denise Ross, Journal Staff Writer
Children in trouble with the law would be treated less harshly, and South
Dakota would get more federal money under a set of broad changes Gov. Mike
Rounds is proposing for the state's juvenile-corrections system.
State corrections officials on Wednesday released a summary of Rounds' plan
to change South Dakota's juvenile- corrections system and to comply with the
federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act.
The governor has until Wednesday, Feb. 5, to file bills, and the corrections
bill is still being drafted, according to Department of Corrections
officials.
South Dakota and Wyoming are the two states that do not comply with the
federal act. By coming into compliance, the state would get at least $600,000
per year in grants, 75 percent of which would be funneled to local
communities. Another $100,000 in prevention money also would be available.
The governor's bill or bills would address juvenile corrections at both the
state and local levels. Corrections Secretary Tim Reisch presented an outline
of Rounds' plan Wednesday to members of a summer legislative study panel.
The bill addresses the four core requirements of the 1974 federal act,
according to a summary:
-- Juveniles would be removed from adult jails.
-- Law enforcement officials would maintain sight and sound separation
between juveniles and adults who are in custody.
-- Children in trouble for things that would not be crimes if they were
adults would not be locked up. For example, a teenager caught drinking won't
go to a juvenile-detention center or the state boot camp. In the case of
probation violations, offenders could be held in a juvenile- detention
center.
-- The state would study any disproportionate number of juveniles in custody.
Currently, six South Dakota counties — Charles Mix, Davison, Edmunds, Falk,
Marshall and Walworth — routinely lock up juveniles in adult jails, and
another four — Codington, Day, Grant and Roberts — refused to provide data
to the state association of counties.
"If legislation is passed which restricts the jailing of juveniles, all these
counties will need to develop new or utilize existing alternative temporary
custody options for juveniles," according to the summary of the governor's
bill.
Federal money would be available to help defray added costs.
The bill would also change various aspects of how juveniles are treated once
they are in the system:
-- Alcohol possession and consumption would no longer be treated as an act of
delinquency. Instead, it would be treated as a status offense, the term law
enforcement officials use to describe the acts that are not crimes for
adults. In South Dakota, status offenders are referred to as CHINS, or
Children in Need of Supervision.
-- At the local level, delinquents would be held for six hours or less for
booking and processing. That timeframe could be extended to 24 hours in rural
areas on a case-by-case basis.
-- Juveniles in adult court for traffic, hunting or fishing violations would
not be allowed to be held or sentenced to jail, although those juveniles
could be held in detention.
-- court hearing and as part of their sentence. Currently, state corrections
officials decide to which program juveniles go. Judges simply sentence
juveniles to the care of the Department of Corrections.
South Dakota had been in compliance with the federal Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Act until 1996, "when legislation passed which allowed the
jailing of delinquents and CHINS," according to the summary. "Since then,
there has been increasing support for South Dakota's compliance with national
juvenile justice standards."
The sponsor of one juvenile-justice bill withdrew his legislation Tuesday in
lieu of the governor's pending package of reforms.
Rep. Tom Hennies, R-Rapid City, asked the House State Affairs Committee to
kill HB1002. That bill would have required the state Department of
Corrections to seek federal oversight for the state's juvenile-corrections
program. Specifically, HB1002 would have made it law that the DOC participate
in the federal Justice Department's Performance-based Standards Project.
The governor has issued an executive order instructing DOC officials to
continue their participation in the standards project.
DOC officials enrolled in the project a few years ago, but Hennies has sought
to make such outside oversight mandatory since the 1999 death of 14-year-old
Gina Score at the state's now-closed girls boot camp at Plankinton.
"For many years, this Legislature has been trying to establish a better
system for our juvenile offenders," Hennies said.
Last year, Gov. Bill Janklow vetoed Hennies' HB1113, which would have done
the same thing he was proposing this year with HB1002.
Similarly, Sen. Garry Moore, D-Yankton, asked the Senate Judiciary Committee
to defer action on SB8.
SB8 would establish a Council of Juvenile Services and charge the group with
helping the state comply with the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Act.
Juvenile-justice advocates welcomed the proposed changes.
"Finally. It's exactly what we've been waiting for," American Civil Liberties
Union of the Dakotas lobbyist Jennifer Ring said.
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