On February 19, Associate Policy Director Sarah Sample testified before the Judicial Proceedings Committee in support of SB 827 – Juvenile Law – Confinement and Restrictive Housing – Limitations.
This bill would prohibit the placement of a juvenile in an adult detention center, including all local detention centers. Additionally, the bill limits the use of restrictive housing for minors while they are in a juvenile holding facility or detention center.
“Sight and sound separation” mandates were signed into federal law as The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018. This standard requires an incarcerated juvenile to be shielded from visual or audible exposure to any incarcerated adult within a detention center. In local facilities – typically far smaller in physical space than state facilities − such segregation options may simply be unavailable due to the simple logistics of smaller buildings. Local detention centers have gone to great lengths to comply with the mandate in the rare instances when they have juveniles in custody, but adjusting physical structures and procedures to account for these standards has been inconsistent and sometimes impossible.
This bill wisely recognizes that adult detention centers operated by both the State and counties are not suitable for the holding of minors under any circumstances. In prohibiting the holding of minors in these facilities, not only are local detention centers relieved of a substantial operational burden, but the minors in question will also be placed in an environment better suited to manage their needs and vulnerabilities.
SB 827’s cross-file, HB 1107, was heard on February 26 in the House Judiciary Committee. Sarah Sample testified in support of this bill.
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