The Missouri Legislature has passed a wide-ranging criminal and juvenile justice bill during the first half of this year’s legislative session.
Senate Bill 888 includes measures designed to combat crime by juveniles, according to the measure’s House handler, State Rep. Brad Christ, R-St. Louis County.
“This bill now addresses juvenile justice reform, including prosecutors in a more collaborative environment to keep our communities safe and our youth protected,” he said before a final vote. “Juvenile detention facilities (will allow) local collaboration on local decision-making over juvenile detention centers.”
That provision gives counties the authority to create a 1% sales tax to fund the construction of jails to hold youth.
State Rep. Gregg Bush, D-Columbia, voted “no.”
“It takes children who could have gone to a treatment facility in the Division of Youth Services, and we could actually send them to school and bill Medicaid for treatment,” he said. “What this bill does is take children and put them in a cage.”
But several Republicans argued that more and more young people are committing violent felonies and that counties should have the means to add more jail space for juveniles.
SB 888 also imposes new mandatory minimum sentencing rules. They include requiring anyone convicted of a Class A felony to serve at least 70% of their sentence before being eligible for parole – Class A felonies include murder, first-degree assault and robbery, kidnapping, and forcible rape of a child under 12.
Cole County prosecutor Locke Thompson testified in favor of that provision during a hearing last week.
“When we see often victims being told, ‘oh hey, your attacker’s out,’ they got sentenced to 15 years and they’re out in two or three, they feel like they’ve been victimized all over again,” Thompson said.
Sheena Rogers with the Missouri Justice Coalition opposed the bill. She testified that mandatory minimums keep people locked up longer even when treatment and rehabilitation succeed.
“Decades of research have shown that longer sentences do not reduce crime or the recidivism rate.”
The bill now goes to Gov. Mike Kehoe. He will have 15 days to take action on the measure once it arrives on his desk.
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