II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1850 

To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 

to eliminate the use of valid court orders to secure lockup of status 

offenders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2015 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

Act of 1974 to eliminate the use of valid court orders 

to secure lockup of status offenders, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prohibiting Detention 

5 of Youth Status Offenders Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION OF STATUS OFFENDERS. 

7 Section 223 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

8 Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633) is amended— 

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•S 1850 IS

1 (1) in subsection (a)(11)— 

2 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

3 (A), by striking ‘‘shall,’’; 

4 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (i) in clause (i), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (iii) by striking clause (iii); and 

10 (iv) in the matter following clause 

11 (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) if a court determines that a juvenile 

14 should be placed in a secure detention facility 

15 or secure correctional facility for violating an 

16 order described in subparagraph (A)(ii)— 

17 ‘‘(i) the court shall issue a written 

18 order that— 

19 ‘‘(I) identifies the valid court 

20 order that the juvenile has violated; 

21 ‘‘(II) specifies the factual basis 

22 for determining that there is reason23 able cause to believe that the juvenile 

24 has violated the order; 

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1 ‘‘(III) includes findings of fact to 

2 support a determination that there is 

3 no appropriate less restrictive alter4 native available to placing the juvenile 

5 in a secure detention facility or secure 

6 correctional facility, with due consid7 eration to the best interest of the ju8 venile; 

9 ‘‘(IV) specifies the length of time, 

10 not to exceed 3 days, that the juvenile 

11 may remain in a secure detention fa12 cility or secure correctional facility; 

13 ‘‘(V) includes a plan for the re14 lease of the juvenile from the secure 

15 detention facility or secure correc16 tional facility; and 

17 ‘‘(VI) may not be renewed or ex18 tended; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the court may not issue a subse20 quent order described in clause (i) relating 

21 to a juvenile, unless the juvenile violates a 

22 valid court order after the date on which 

23 the court issues an order described in 

24 clause (i); 

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1 ‘‘(D) there are procedures in place to en2 sure that a juvenile held in a secure detention 

3 facility or secure correctional facility pursuant 

4 to a court order described in subparagraph 

5 (C)(i) does not remain in a secure detention fa6 cility or secure correctional facility longer than 

7 3 days (with the exception of weekends and 

8 holidays) or the length of time authorized by 

9 the court, or authorized under applicable State 

10 law, whichever is shorter; and 

11 ‘‘(E) a juvenile status offender held in a 

12 secure detention facility or secure correctional 

13 facility pursuant to a court order described in 

14 subparagraph (C)(i) may only be held in a se15 cure detention facility or secure correctional fa16 cility 1 time in any 6-month period, provided 

17 that the conditions set forth in subparagraph 

18 (C) are satisfied.’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 

21 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, no 

22 State receiving a formula grant under this part may use 

23 a valid court order described in subsection (a)(11)(A)(ii) 

24 to place a juvenile status offender in a secure detention 

25 facility or secure correctional facility. A State that can 

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1 demonstrate hardship as determined by the Administrator 

2 may submit to the Administrator an application for a sin3 gle 1-year extension to comply with the requirement de4 scribed in this subsection, which shall describe— 

5 ‘‘(1) the measurable progress and good faith ef6 fort in the State to reduce the number of juvenile 

7 status offenders who are placed in a secure deten8 tion facility or correctional facility pursuant to a 

9 court order described in subsection (a)(11)(A)(ii); 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(2) a plan to comply with the requirement de12 scribed in this subsection not later than 1 year after 

13 the date the extension is granted.’’. 

Æ 

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