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1996 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 141
Directing the Commission on Youth, in cooperation with the Department of Youth and Family Services, to study the laws affecting children in need of services, children in need of supervision, and status offenders.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 4, 1996
Agreed to by the Senate, February 29, 1996

WHEREAS, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Law recognizes that certain nondelinquent behavior can have serious consequences if not dealt with by the courts; and

WHEREAS, legislation has been enacted to deal with such nondelinquent behavior by provisions concerning children in need of services, children in need of supervision, and status offenders; and

WHEREAS, law-enforcement personnel find that an ever-increasing amount of their time is spent dealing with such children; and

WHEREAS, law-enforcement officers frequently find that they must remain out of service for extended periods awaiting the juvenile's parent or guardian assuming custody of the juvenile; and

WHEREAS, the primary focus of the police officer is the enforcement of the criminal laws; and

WHEREAS, enhancing the ability of the courts to hold the juvenile and/or his or her parents accountable for nondelinquent actions may indirectly reduce juvenile crime by enabling the courts to ameliorate conditions which could lead to delinquent behavior; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Commission on Youth, in cooperation with the Department of Youth and Family Services, be directed to examine all existing statutes directly related to children in need of services, children in need of supervision, and status offenders, with particular emphasis on runaways and curfew violators, and recommend revisions for both predispositional and postdispositional alternatives for the courts.

The Commission on Youth and the Department of Youth and Family Services shall complete their work in time to submit their findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 1997 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.