Delaware General Assembly

Signed 10/12/17

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

5/10/17

J. Johnson

Sen. McDowell, Henry
Rep. Heffernan

Sen. Ennis, Townsend
Reps. Potter, Lynn, Paradee, Brady, Longhurst, Kowalko, Baumbach, Keeley

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CERTAIN CRIMES.

This bill allows judicial discretion when juveniles are charged with any of the five specific offenses carved out in state code that say a juvenile of 16 or older, or 15 in the case of § 1447A, must be prosecuted as an adult. The bill simply changes the language from ‘shall’ to ‘may’ to allow judges to weigh the possibility that the juvenile may be better served in Delaware’s Family Court system via the amenability process already enumerated in Title 10 § 1010 and § 1011. Four of the five statutes date back to 1972. The most recent change pertaining to the ages of juveniles affected was in 1996 when lawmakers dropped the age requirement on Section 1447A from 16 to 15. This bill also raises the age in § 1447A to 16, as well.

81:199

18

10/12/17

N/A

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