Juvenile justice reform bill sent to governor for approval

A juvenile justice reform bill is on its way to the governor for approval.

House Bill 1359 has passed through both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly and has nearly completed the process to become law.

The bill has been in the making for years. It creates various reforms of the juvenile justice system statewide, including not detaining children under 12, risk assessment tools to divert youth away from the system and implementing more statewide consistency.

The bill received bipartisan support, and quickly moved through the House and Senate.

HB 1359 was created based on recommendations approved by the Juvenile Justice Reform Taskforce, which was made up of stakeholders from across the juvenile justice system and the community.

The taskforce met and analyzed data for two years before coming together in December to approve what should be in the bill. Rep. Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville), the bill’s author, co-chaired the taskforce with Sen. Mike Crider (R-Greenfield).

Contact WFYI criminal justice reporter Katrina Pross at kpross@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @katrina_pross.

Pross is a Corps Member of Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.