What's happening
This bill prohibits the detention or placement of juveniles solely for acts that constitute violations, rather than crimes or felonies.
Why it matters
Reduces the negative impacts of juvenile detention for minor offenses. By prohibiting detention for violations (acts less serious than misdemeanors), the bill aims to prevent young people from being exposed to the harmful effects of detention—such as trauma, stigma, and disruption to education—for low-level behaviors.
Narrows court discretion in handling juvenile cases. Judges would no longer be able to order secure detention or placement for youth solely adjudicated for violations, reinforcing a focus on non-custodial responses like conditional discharge or probation for these minor acts.
Aligns with juvenile justice reform trends. The bill reflects a broader policy shift toward treating youth with a rehabilitation-first approach, reserving detention for more serious offenses, and ensuring that court resources are focused on higher-risk cases.
Promotes consistency and fairness across the system. By clearly defining that violations cannot lead to detention, the law would help standardize practices across courts and counties, reducing disparities in how youth are treated for similar minor conduct.
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Who cares
Headline styles
End Juvenile Detention for Violations
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to children and families
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 61–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1726
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to children and families
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7885
IN SENATE
March 6, 2018
Introduced by Sen. AVELLA -- (at request of the Office of Court Administration) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the family court act and the criminal procedure law, in relation to juvenile delinquency charges of violations in the family court
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 304.1 of the family court act, as amended by section 59 of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
3. The detention of a child under ten years of age in a secure detention facility shall not be directed, nor shall the detention of a child adjudicated solely for an act that would constitute a violation as defined in subdivision three of section 10.00 of the penal law be directed, under any of the provisions of this article.
§ 2. Subdivision 1 of section 350.1 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 398 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows:
1. If the respondent is detained and has not been found to have committed a designated felony act the dispositional hearing shall commence not more than ten days after the entry of an order pursuant to subdivision one of section 345.1, except as provided in subdivision three of this section; provided, however, that if the respondent has solely been found to have committed a violation as defined in subdivision three of section 10.00 of the penal law, the respondent shall not be detained pending disposition.
§ 3. Subdivision 4 of section 352.2 of the family court act, as added by section 56-b of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
4. Where a youth receives a juvenile delinquency adjudication for conduct committed when the youth was age sixteen or older that would constitute a violation as defined in subdivision three of section 10.00 of the penal law, the court shall have the power to enter an order of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14579-01-8
S. 7885 2
disposition in accordance with [paragraphs] paragraph (a) [and (b)] of subdivision one of this section. The court shall not order detention or placement of a youth solely adjudicated under this subdivision.
§ 4. Subdivision 6 of section 360.3 of the family court act, as added by chapter 920 of the laws of 1982, is amended to read as follows:
6. At the conclusion of the hearing the court may revoke, continue or modify the order of probation or conditional discharge. If the court revokes the order, it shall order a different disposition pursuant to section 352.2 of this article, provided, however, that if the court finds a violation of an order of conditional discharge where the underlying finding had been for an act solely constituting a violation as defined in subdivision three of section 10.00 of the penal law, the court may modify the conditions of the conditional discharge but may not order any other disposition under section 352.2 of this article. If the court continues the order of probation or conditional discharge, it shall dismiss the petition of violation.
§ 5. Subdivision 1 of section 510.15 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by section 36 of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
1. When a principal who is under the age of sixteen is committed to the custody of the sheriff the court must direct that the principal be taken to and lodged in a place certified by the office of children and family services as a juvenile detention facility for the reception of children. When a principal who (a) commencing October first, two thousand eighteen, is sixteen years of age; or (b) commencing October first, two thousand nineteen, is sixteen or seventeen years of age, is committed to the custody of the sheriff, the court must direct that the principal be taken to and lodged in a place certified by the office of children and family services in conjunction with the state commission of correction as a specialized secure juvenile detention facility for older youth. Where such a direction is made the sheriff shall deliver the principal in accordance therewith and such person shall although lodged and cared for in a juvenile detention facility continue to be deemed to be in the custody of the sheriff. No principal under the age specified to whom the provisions of this section may apply shall be detained in any prison, jail, lockup, or other place used for adults convicted of a crime or under arrest and charged with the commission of a crime without the approval of the office of children and family services which shall consult with the commission of correction if the principal is sixteen years of age or older in the case of each principal and the statement of its reasons therefor; nor shall a principal under the age specified who is charged solely with a violation as defined in subdivision three of section 10.00 of the penal law be subject to detention. The sheriff shall not be liable for any acts done to or by such principal resulting from negligence in the detention of and care for such principal, when the principal is not in the actual custody of the sheriff.
§ 6. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as sections thirty-six, fifty-six-b and fifty-nine of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, take effect; provided, however that sections two and four of this act shall take effect on the same date as sections 36, 56-b and 59 of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, take effect.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the family court act and the criminal procedure law, in relation to juvenile delinquency charges of violations in the family court
This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of his Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee.
This measure would amend the Family Court Act and the Criminal Procedure Law in relation to charges of a violation faced by a juvenile in Family Court.
Read the full memo (854 words)
The recently enacted legislation raising the age of criminal responsi- bility in New York State amends the definition of juvenile delinquency in Family Court Act § 301.2(1), marking the first time that Family Courts will have jurisdiction over alleged violations (petty offenses), as defined in subdivision three of section 10.00 of the Penal Law. See L.2017, c. 59, Pt. WWW. Prior to the new statute, an act of juvenile delinquency was defined as an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult. The new jurisdiction is limited to 16-year olds, as of October 1, 2018, and 16 and 17-year olds, as of October 1, 2019, and is only applicable where a violation arises out of the same transaction or occurrence as an alleged crime, that is, a misdemeanor commencing in Family Court or a felony removed to Family Court. Where an adolescent offender case is prosecuted for a criminal charge in a Youth Part under Article 722 of the Criminal Procedure Law, a violation that is part of the same transaction or occurrence as that criminal charge may be heard with it. In all other cases, violations will continue to be heard by local criminal courts.
Some cases of older adolescents in Family Court that involve crimes and violations charged together may result in an adjudication or in a plea only to the violation. It would contravene the ameliorative goals of the statute raising the age of criminal responsibility if adolescents in such cases faced penalties greater than those that they would have faced had they been prosecuted in a local criminal court. Accordingly, we propose this measure to amend sections 304.1, 350.1, 352.2 and 360.3 of the Family Court Act to provide that such adolescents may not be secure- ly detained, may not be placed on probation and may not be placed out of their homes as a disposition. If granted a conditional discharge as a disposition in suclia case, a youth charged with a violation of the conditional discharge may not be subject to secure detention pending adjudication of the violation or placement upon a finding. Additional conditions, e.g., restitution, community service or participation in a particular program, may be added as conditions, but neither detention nor placement would be permissible consequences. Further, this measure would amend Criminal Procedure Law § 510.15 to preclude secure detention of a 16- or 17-year old whose sole charge is a violation.
This measure would ensure that adolescents adjudicated for violations (petty offenses) or charged with, or adjudicated for, violations of conditional discharges would not be adversely affected by chapter 59 of the Laws of 2017. Prior to the effective date of the new statute, 16- and 17-year old offenders convicted of violations would be subject only to sentences of conditional or unconditional discharge, jail up to 15 days and/or a fine of up to $250. Subdivision three of section 10.00 of the Penal Law defines a "violation" as "an offense, other than a 'traf- fic infraction,' for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in excess of fifteen days cannot be imposed." Penal Law § 65.00(1)(a) requires conviction of a "crime," not merely a "violation," for imposi- tion of a probation sentence and Penal Law § 65.05(1)(a) authorizes sentences of conditional discharge for up to one year for violations.
By not imposing penalties greater than those warranted by the level of adjudication, this measure is consistent with widely accepted research in the juvenile justice field. The "risk principle" delineated in the Final Report of the Governor's Commission on Youth, Public Safety and Justice (2015) at 20, provides that:
(S)ervices and supervision should be provided in direct proportion to an offender's risk of reoffending, with lower-risk youth receiving less-in- tensive interventions and higher-risk youth receiving interventions of higher intensity. It also warns against placing youth in settings that are more restrictive than necessary for their actual level of risk, which can yield counterproductive results in terms of increased recidiv- ism. (Footnote omitted). According to this principle, more restrictive programming and supervision should be concentrated on higher-risk youth.
Enactment of this measure thus is warranted, not only by the need to foreclose greater punishment than is possible under current law, but also from a purely practical vantage-point, that is, to protect the public from the recidivism that may result from over-intervention in cases of adjudications for conduct that does not rise to the level of a crime.
This measure, which would have no meaningful fiscal impact on the State, would take effect on the first day of October, 2018.
Legislative history
None. New proposal.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.