H4515 — An Act promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services

Summary

An Act promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services

Bill Text

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The bill modifies the eligibility criteria and procedures related to the diversion of juveniles in court assessments, enhancing protections and clarifying definitions.

• Section 54A of chapter 119

  Any referral to the juvenile court for a child requiring assistance as defined in section 21, in accordance with the provisions of this section and of sections 39F to 39I, inclusive, shall not disqualify said child from diversion.

  Adds a provision ensuring that referrals for children requiring assistance do not prevent them from diversion.

• Section 54A of chapter 119

  , after consultation with legal counsel,

  Requires consultation with legal counsel before certain proceedings.

• Section 54A of chapter 119

  and (iv) any statement made by the child or the child’s family during the course of assessment → and (iv) any statement made by the child or the child’s family during the course of assessment; and (v) information obtained during the course of the assessment.

  Clarifies the types of statements and information included in assessments by adding 'information obtained during the course of the assessment.'

• Section 54A of chapter 119

  may dismiss the original complaint pending against the child → shall dismiss the original complaint pending against the child unless the report recommends against dismissal.

  Changes the dismissal protocol to a requirement for dismissal, unless specified otherwise by a report.

• Section 54A of chapter 119

  assessment and the

  Adds 'assessment and the' into the text to specify records that are being referred to.

• Section 54A of chapter 119

  subsection (g) → (1) A child otherwise eligible for diversion pursuant to this section shall not be eligible for diversion: (i) if the child is indicted as a youthful offender; (ii) if the child is charged with an offense that cannot be continued without a finding or placed on file; (iii) if the child is charged with an offense for which a penalty of incarceration greater than five years may be imposed, or for which there is a minimum penalty of incarceration; or (iv) if the child is charged with an offense listed under the second sentence of section 70C of chapter 277; provided however, that a child shall be eligible for diversion if the child is charged with an offense under: (A) paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section 24 of chapter 90, (B) subsection (a) of section 13A, subsection (a) of section 13M or subsection (b) of section 15B of chapter 265, or (C) section13A or section 13C of chapter 268. Diversion of juvenile court charges under this chapter shall not preclude a subsequent indictment on the same charges in superior court.

  Revises the eligibility criteria for diversion, detailing specific offenses that disqualify a child from such status while allowing certain exceptions.

Sponsors

• Joint Committee on the Judiciary · Primary

Subjects