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Sub. S.B. 179 BECAME LAW THE END OF 2000 Sub. S.B. 179 was signed by the Governor into law in December, 2000. The Governor included an executive order requiring that any 10 or 11 year old committed to the Ohio Department of Youth Services be placed in a secure, private treatment facility instead of an institution operated by the State. In addition, the Governor ordered the establishment of a committee made up of ODYS officials, legislators, child psychologists and delinquency professionals to examine by March 1, 2001, whether the state should incarcerate 10 and 11 year old children. This legislation will become effective January 1, 2002. Sub. S.B. 179 is based on the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission’s juvenile disposition proposals. It creates a new chapter to cover delinquents, traffic offenders and transfers to adult courts. The following is a summary of the key provisions of this legislation: The purpose clause The purpose clause has been changed from rehabilitation and removing the taint of criminality from young offenders (the best interest of the child) to cover protecting the public interest and safety, holding the offender accountable for the offender’s actions, restoring the victim and rehabilitating the child. These purposes must be achieved by a system of graduated sanctions and services. Dispositions for delinquents The minimum sentences to ODYS remains virtually unchanged from existing law. For example, the proposed range for Felony 3 is an indefinite term from 6 months to age 21. The proposed maximum for all offenses is until age 21. However, certain categories of offenders would receive enhanced minimum sentences. The minimum sentences would be enhanced for: children who possessed firearms while committing the offense; committing a felony offense of violence while involved with a gang; and the child, who had been adjudicated a delinquent child for committing two or more felonies; The minimum age for commitment to the Ohio Department of Youth Services would be decreased from 12 years of age to 10 years of age if the delinquent act would be aggravated murder, murder, arson, or a first or second degree felony offense of violence. However, as mentioned earlier, Governor Taft, when signing the bill into law, attached an executive order stating that 10 and 11 year olds must not be placed in state facilities, but must be placed in secure, private treatment facilities. Transfer provisions The existing discretionary transfer of children, 14 years of age or older, charged with a felony offense is maintained. This legislation also retains the existing mandatory The Table describes the dispositions that a juvenile court may impose on a delinquent child. MSYO = mandatory serious youthful offender DSYO = discretionary serious youthful offender TJ = Traditional Juvenile N/A = Not applicable
Offense Category Age Age Age Age (Enhancement Factors) 16 & 17 14 & 15 12 & 13 10 & 11 Murder, Aggravated Murder N/A MSYO DSYO DSYO TJ TJ TJ Attempted Murder/ N/A MSYO DYSO DSY Attempted Aggravated Murder TJ TJ TJ F1 (Enhanced by offense of MSYO DSYO DSYO DSYO violence factor and either TJ TJ TJ TJ disposition firearm factor or previous ODYS admission) F1 (Enhanced by any single DSYO DSYO DSYO or other combination of TJ TJ TJ TJ enhancement factors) F1 (not enhanced) DSYO DSYO TJ TJ TJ TJ F2 (Enhanced by any DSYO DSYO DSYO enhancement factor) TJ TJ TJ TJ F2 (not enhanced) DSYO DSYO TJ TJ TJ TJ F3 (Enhanced by any DSYO DSYO enhancement factor) TJ TJ TJ TJ F3 (not enhanced) DSYO TJ TJ TJ TJ F4 (Enhanced by any DSYO enhancement factor) TJ TJ TJ TJ F4 (not enhanced) TJ TJ TJ TJ F5 (Enhanced by any DSYO enhancement factor) TJ TJ TJ TJ F5 (not enhanced) TJ TJ TJ TJ
Transfer mechanism for “category one” and “category two” offenses. Children must be transferred to criminal court under the following conditions: The child is charged with a category one offense (aggravated murder, murder or an attempt to commit murder or aggravated murder) and either the child was 16 or 17 years of age at the time of the act charged or the child was 14 or 15 years of age and previously had been adjudicated a delinquent child for a category one or category two offense and had been committed to the legal custody of ODYS. The child is charged with a category two offense other than kidnapping, the child was 16 or 17 years of age at time of the commission of the act and either of the following applies: the child was previously adjudicated a delinquent child for an act that is a category one or category two offense and had been committed to ODYS or the child is alleged to have had a firearm on or about the person or under the child’s control while committing the act charged and to have displayed the firearm, indicated possession of the firearm, or used the firearm to facilitate the commission of the act charged.
It specifies the eligibility criteria for a mandatory or discretionary transfer to criminal court or for a particular type of delinquency child disposition if the act charged is enhanced by certain specified factors. It also provides for factors against transfer that are to be considered in discretionary transfer cases, for example, whether the victim induced or facilitated the act charged. Enhancement Factors Enhancement factors include: offense of violence; the use or display of a handgun; and previous commitment to ODYS for an offense of violence. Dispositions for Serious Youthful Offenders (Blended Sentences) The new legislation provides for blended sentences under which some serious offenders receive both a juvenile and an adult sentence (in juvenile court). The adult sentence would initially be stayed pending the satisfactory completion of the juvenile portion and the juvenile court is authorized to invoke the adult portion of the sentence if the child does not satisfactorily complete the juvenile portion . In the adult portion of the blended sentence, the child may not waive the right to counsel. In these serious offender cases, the child is afforded the due process protections of criminal defendants: a preliminary hearing, an open and speedy trial by jury, the right to raise the issue of competency, the right to an attorney and bail. Invocation of the Adult Portion of the Serious Youthful Offender Disposition The juvenile court is permitted to invoke the adult portion of the serious youthful offender dispositional sentence if the court finds all of the following by clear and convincing evidence. The child is serving the juvenile portion of the serious youthful offender dispositional sentence; The child is at least 14 years of age and has been admitted to an ODYS facility or criminal charges are pending against the child; The child engaged in specified conduct that permit invocation of the adult portion and the child’s conduct demonstrates that the child is unlikely to be rehabilitated during the remaining period of juvenile jurisdiction. (The adult portion of the sentence could be invoked after initiation by ODYS personnel (and a court hearing if the juvenile creates a substantial risk to safety or seriously jeopardizes the programming and treatment of others within an ODYS facility) In no case can the total prison sentence (juvenile and adult) exceed the maximum prison term available for an adult who is convicted of violating the same criminal offense. Mandatory Serious Youthful offender Disposition If the child falls in the SYO (Serious Youthful Offender Category), the court must give a blended sentence in the following cases: a 12 or 13 year old adjudicated for enhanced murder; a 14 or 15 year old charged with murder; and a presumed transfer in which the juvenile proved amenability to treatment in the juvenile system. The Use of Detention The new legislation does not permit the use of secure detention as a disposition for an adjudicated delinquent or unruly child. However, the existing provision that allow an alleged delinquent child to be held in secure detention for up to 90 days during which time a social history may be prepared is continued. The bill expands the circumstances in which a law enforcement officer or other authorized officer of the court can take a child into custody. The new provision provides that such an officer can take a child into custody when there are reasonable grounds to believe the child committed a delinquent act and that taking the child into custody is necessary to protect the public interest and safety. The previous provision emphasized the reasons for taking a child into custody as primarily for the protection of the child and to assure that the child did not abscond or be removed from the jurisdiction of the court. Other Provisions
The legislation requires the Governor’s Council on Juvenile Justice to conduct, or cause to be conducted, an evaluation of the racial composition of delinquent children committed to the Ohio Department of Youth Services, focusing on the changes made by Sub. S.B. 179 as related to recent sentencing trends for delinquent children. An exception has been included in this legislation for Reclaim Ohio funds: for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 only, the total number of beds available to all counties via public safety beds and county allocations cannot be less than the total beds used by the counties during fiscal year 2000 funded by care and custody chargebacks and public safety beds. The legislation includes a provision that provides that the General Assembly in the completion of the 123rd General Assembly and the following session, intends to:
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Copyright © 2001 Juvenile Justice Coalition |