The House Courts & Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1218 authored by Rep. McNamara and co-authored by Reps. Reardon and Steuerwald on juvenile justice. The bill:
- adds additional members to a community corrections advisory board to provide expertise on matters related to juvenile offenders;
- allows an application for a state grant for a community corrections program for juveniles to be made to the Department of Correction Division of Youth Services.
The bill was amended to:
- provide a procedure by which an adjudication of delinquency may be expunged when it pertains to a child who was: (1) the victim of human trafficking; and (2) adjudicated a delinquent child for an act performed while a victim of human trafficking and the delinquent act was a result of human trafficking;
- update the procedure by which court records related to adjudication of juvenile delinquency and CHINS proceedings may be expunged.
Allen County Juvenile Court Judge Charles Pratt, Boone County Superior Court Judge Bruce Petit, and representatives of the Indiana Probation Officers Professional Association and Indiana Association of Resources and Child Advocacy testified in support of the bill and proposed amendments. The amended bill passed 11-0.
Read the bill at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/house/1218