The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice supports agencies within the Executive and Judicial branches of government, and agencies involved in critical decisions of case processing and treatment of juvenile offenders, committing to and participating in the creation of statewide juvenile professional development practices as directed by the state's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Council.  We recommend the following timeline:

- Phase 1 (September 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015):  Commit to and participate in the creation of statewide juvenile professional development practices.

Revise the Enforcement of Compulsory School Attendance statute to address issues including the definition of absence, policies and procedures regarding attendance, identification of at-risk students, truancy charges, and parental roles.

Revise the language of the current section of the sex offender deregistration statute 16-22-113 (1)(e) as follows:

 

(e) EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN SECTION (1.3)(B)(II), if the person was younger than eighteen years of age at the time of disposition or adjudication, THE COMMISSION OF THE OFFENSE, after the successful completion of and discharge from the A JUVENILE sentence OR DISPOSITION, AND if the person prior to such time has not been subsequently convicted of OR HAS A PENDING PROSECUTION FOR, of unlawful sexual behavior or of any other offense, the underlying factual basis of which involved unlawful sexual behavior and the court did not issue an order either continuing the duty to register or discontinuing the duty to register pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (1.3) of this section. Any person petitioning pursuant to this paragraph (e) may also petition for an order removing his or her name from the sex offender registry. In determining whether to grant the order, the court shall consider whether the person is likely to commit a subsequent offense of or involving unlawful sexual behavior. The court shall base its determination on recommendations from the person's probation or community parole officer, the person's treatment provider, and the prosecuting attorney for the jurisdiction in which the person was tried and on the recommendations included in the person's presentence investigation report. In addition, the court shall consider any written or oral testimony submitted by the victim of the offense for which the petitioner was required to register. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (1), a juvenile who files a petition pursuant to this section may file the petition with the court to which venue is transferred pursuant to section 19-2-105, C.R.S., if any.

Revise 18-8-208 Escapes to provide that an adjudicated juvenile who turns 18 while in custody, but is not in custody in a state-operated facility, commits a class 3 misdemeanor rather than a felony if convicted of an escape.

School boards to provide education and materials to juvenile detention facilities as outlined in the Colorado model content standard* by revising CRS 19-2-402(3)(a) as follows:

The school boards of the school districts that a juvenile detention facility serves or in which the juvenile detention facility is located shall satisfy the requirements as defined by C.R.S. 22-33-104** and shall furnish teachers, materials, and content that are designed to meet the Colorado model content standards.

 

*A brief explanation of such standards can be found at http://www.cde.state.co.us/standardsandinstruction/.

**C.R.S. 22-33-104 as amended is commonly known as the Compulsory School Attendance Law.