Blawg of Attorney Christine M Bechtold

The new Georgia Juvenile Justice Code House Bill 242 passed the Senate unanimously on March 21, 2013. GA HB 242. The Bill, which is expected to become effective on January 1, 2014, “incorporates many of the recommendations by the governor’s criminal justice reform council related to the juvenile justice system.” atlawblog 3/21/2013. The Bill is intended to emphasize community resources for lower-risk juvenile offenders. It “is designed to send fewer juveniles to state facilities for committing felonies and to divert kids who are not dangerous — especially so-called status offenders such as truants, runaways and the unruly — into less expensive community-based programs.”  AJC 3/21/2013.

Loganville Man Charged in Rape of Teen Girl Did you know that in Georgia any person over the age of seventeen is treated as an adult? In early 2004, the Juvenile Law Committee (JLC) began a project to revise the now forty year old Georgia Juvenile Code. One of JLC's goals is to increase the juvenile age to eighteen in Georgia. Advocates say this could be more costly now, but it would result in savings when more young offenders get proper services and stay out of adult prison. Opponents say this change is not necessary and too costly when the state is already challenged with budget issues.