The House Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning committee will hear a bill raising the age that a child can be involved in the juvenile court system, barring certain circumstances. HB 1440, sponsored by Rep. My-Linh Thai (D–Bellevue), changes youth court jurisdiction to 14-17 years of age (it currently stands at 8-17) and presumes that children 13 and younger are presumed to be less capable of making fully informed, reasoned decisions and thus are not capable of committing a crime. There would be an exception for children 13 and younger who are charged with murder and show clear and convincing evidence that they have sufficient capacity to understand and know it was wrong.

The bill also creates a juvenile justice task force to provide recommendations and an implementation plan to expand juvenile court jurisdiction to also include 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds.

This proposal is based off a review by the Washington State Board of Health that looked at the potential health impacts of raising the age of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction, finding evidence that doing so could decrease juvenile recidivism and improve health outcomes, access to employment opportunities, housing access, and economic stability.

Some have expressed concerns that this might inadvertently push more children into crime as gangs could end up targeting younger children who wouldn't be likely to be charged with a crime.

We would appreciate your feedback.

Dates to remember

HB 1440 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning committee on Wednesday, February 8 at 1:30 pm.