I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3494
To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974
to identify violent and hard-core juvenile offenders and treat them as
adults, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 20, 1996
Mr. CANADY of Florida (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Florida, and Mr.
HUTCHINSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, and in addition
to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Act of 1974 to identify violent and hard-core juvenile
offenders and treat them as adults, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Violent and Hard-Core
Juvenile Offender Reform Act of 1996’’.
(1) in paragraph (22), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end of clause (iii);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (23) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(24) the term ‘serious habitual offender’
means a juvenile who meets one or more of the fol-
lowing criteria:
‘‘(A) Arrest for a capital, life, or first de-
gree aggravated sexual offense.
‘‘(B) Not less than 5 arrests, with 3 ar-
rests chargeable as felonies and at least 3 ar-
rests occurring within the preceding 12 months.
‘‘(C) Not less than 10 arrests, with 2 ar-
rests chargeable as felonies and at least 3 ar-
rests occurring within the preceding 12 months.
‘‘(D) At least 1 arrest for conduct involv-
ing 3 or more burglaries, robberies, or sexual
assaults within the preceding 12 months.
‘‘(E) Not less than 10 arrests, with 8 or
more arrests for misdemeanor crimes involving
theft, assault, battery, narcotics, controlled sub-
stance abuse, or possession of weapons, and at
least 3 arrests occurring within the preceding
12 months.’’.
(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE PLAN.—Section 223
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5633) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (10)—
(i) by redesignating subparagraphs
(D) through (O) as subparagraphs (E)
through (P), respectively; and
(ii) by inserting after subparagraph
(C) the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(D) the establishment of serious habitual
offender comprehensive action programs con-
sistent with subsection (b);’’;
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (24) and
(25) as paragraphs (28) and (29), respectively;
and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (23) the
following new paragraphs:
‘‘(24) provide for the establishment and mainte-
nance of an effective juvenile justice system that re-
quires the prosecution of juveniles 14 years of age
and older as adults in criminal court, rather than in
juvenile delinquency proceedings, for conduct con-
stituting—
‘‘(A) murder or attempted murder;
‘‘(B) robbery while armed with a dan-
gerous or deadly weapon;
‘‘(C) battery or assault while armed with a
dangerous or deadly weapon;
‘‘(D) forcible rape;
‘‘(E) any serious drug offense which, if
committed by an adult subject to Federal juris-
diction, would be punishable under section
401(b)(1)(A) or 408 of the Controlled Sub-
stances Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A), 848) or
section 1010(b)(1)(A) of the Controlled Sub-
stances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C.
960(b)(1)(A));
‘‘(F) any other crime the State determines
appropriate; and
‘‘(G) the third or subsequent occasion, un-
related to any previous occasion, on which such
juveniles engage in conduct for which adults
could be imprisoned for a term exceeding 1
year; unless, on a case-by-case basis—
‘‘(i) a court determines that trying
such a juvenile as an adult is not in the in-
terest of justice under State law;
‘‘(ii) such court records its reasons for
making such a determination in writing
and makes such record available for in-
spection by the public at large; and
‘‘(iii) the court makes a record in
writing of the disposition of the juvenile in
the juvenile justice system available to the
public to the same extent that records of
adult criminal proceedings are open to the
public, notwithstanding any other law re-
quiring such information to be withheld or
limited in any way from access by the pub-
lic;
‘‘(25) provide that a State will ensure that
whenever a juvenile, under 14 years of age, is adju-
dicated in a juvenile proceeding to have engaged in
conduct constituting an offense described in para-
graph (24)—
‘‘(A) a record is kept relating to the adju-
dication that is—
‘‘(i) equivalent to the record that
would be kept of an adult conviction for
that offense;
‘‘(ii) retained for a period of time that
is equal to the period of time records are
kept for adult convictions;
‘‘(iii) made available to law enforce-
ment agencies of any jurisdiction;
‘‘(iv) made available to officials of a
school, school district, or postsecondary
school where the individual who is the sub-
ject of the juvenile record seeks, intends,
or is instructed to enroll, and that such of-
ficials are held liable to the same stand-
ards and penalties that law enforcement
and juvenile justice system employees are
held liable to, under Federal and State law
for handling and disclosing such informa-
tion; and
‘‘(v) made available, once the juvenile
becomes an adult or is tried as an adult,
to any court having criminal jurisdiction
over such an individual for the purpose of
allowing such court to consider the individ-
ual’s prior juvenile history as a relevant
factor in determining appropriate punish-
ment for the individual at sentencing;
‘‘(B) the juvenile is fingerprinted and pho-
tographed, and the fingerprints and photograph
are sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Identification Division for collection pursuant to
section 534 of title 28, United States Code; and
‘‘(C) the court in which the adjudication
takes place will transmit to the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, Identification Division for col-
lection pursuant to section 534 of title 28,
United States Code, the information concerning
the adjudication, including the name, date of
adjudication, court, offenses, and disposition,
along with a prominent notation that the mat-
ter concerns a juvenile adjudication;
‘‘(26) provide that whenever a juvenile, age 14
and older, is adjudicated delinquent, as defined by
Federal or State law in a juvenile delinquency pro-
ceeding for conduct which if committed by an adult
would constitute a felony under Federal or State
law, the State will ensure that—
‘‘(A) a record is kept relating to the adju-
dication that is—
‘‘(i) equivalent to the record that
would be kept of an adult conviction for
such an offense;
‘‘(ii) retained for a period of time that
is equal to the period of time records are
kept for adult convictions;
‘‘(iii) made available to law enforce-
ment agencies of any jurisdiction;
‘‘(iv) made available to officials of a
school, school district, or postsecondary
school where the individual who is the sub-
ject of the juvenile record seeks, intends,
or is instructed to enroll, and that such of-
ficials are held liable to the same stand-
ards and penalties that law enforcement
and juvenile justice system employees are
held liable to, under Federal and State law
for handling and disclosing such informa-
tion; and
‘‘(v) made available, once the juvenile
becomes an adult or is tried as an adult,
to any circuit court having criminal juris-
diction over such an individual for the pur-
pose of allowing such court to consider the
individual’s prior juvenile history as a rel-
evant factor in determining appropriate
punishment for the individual at the sen-
tencing hearing;
‘‘(B) the juvenile is fingerprinted and pho-
tographed, and the fingerprints and photograph
are sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Identification Division and are otherwise made
available to the same extent that fingerprints
and photographs of adults are made available;
and
‘‘(C) the court in which the adjudication
takes place transmits to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Identification Division, informa-
tion concerning the adjudication, including the
name, date of adjudication, court, offenses, and
disposition, along with a prominent notation
that the matter concerns a juvenile adjudica-
tion;
‘‘(27) provide that the State will ensure that if
any juvenile has been adjudicated to be delinquent
on 2 or more separate occasions based on conduct
that would be a felony if committed by an adult the
record of the second and all subsequent adjudica-
tions is kept as described in paragraph (26) and
made available to the public to the same extent that
a record of an adult conviction is open to the pub-
lic;’’;
(2) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘the re-
quirements of subsection (a) (12)(A), (13), (14), or
(23) in any fiscal year beginning after January 1,
1993’’ and inserting ‘‘any requirement of paragraph
(12)(A), (13), (14), (23), (24), (25), (26), or (27)
of subsection (a) in any fiscal year beginning after
January 1, 1997’’; and
(3) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and
(d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e); and
(4) by adding the following new subsection:
‘‘(b) SERIOUS HABITUAL OFFENDER COMPREHEN-
SIVE ACTION PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Serious habitual offender
comprehensive action programs referred to in sub-
section (a)(10)(D) (referred to in this subsection as
‘programs’) shall be multidisciplinary interagency
case management and information sharing systems,
meeting the requirements of this subsection, that en-
able the juvenile and criminal justice system,
schools, and social service agencies to make more in-
formed decisions regarding early identification, con-
trol, supervision, and treatment of juveniles who re-
peatedly commit serious delinquent or criminal acts.
‘‘(2) MULTIDISCIPLINARY
AGENCIES.—Under
such programs, units of local government in a State
shall establish a multidisciplinary agency comprised
of representatives from—
‘‘(A) law enforcement organizations;
‘‘(B) school districts;
‘‘(C) State’s attorneys offices;
‘‘(D) court services;
‘‘(E) State and county children and family
services; and
‘‘(F) any additional organizations, groups,
or agencies deemed appropriate to accomplish
the purposes described in paragraph (1), includ-
ing—
‘‘(i) juvenile detention centers;
‘‘(ii) mental and medical health agen-
cies; and
‘‘(iii) the community at large.
‘‘(3) IDENTIFICATION
OF
SERIOUS
HABITUAL
OFFENDERS.—Each multidisciplinary agency estab-
lished under paragraph (2) shall adopt, by a major-
ity of its members, criteria to identify individuals
who are serious habitual offenders as defined in sec-
tion 103(24).
‘‘(4) INTERAGENCY
INFORMATION
SHARING
AGREEMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each multidisciplinary
agency established under paragraph (2) shall
adopt, by a majority of its members, an inter-
agency information sharing agreement to be
signed by the chief executive officer of each or-
ganization and agency represented in the multi-
disciplinary agency.
‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.—The
interagency information sharing agreement
shall require that—
‘‘(i) all records pertaining to serious
habitual offenders shall be kept confiden-
tial to the extent required by State law;
‘‘(ii) information in the records may
be made available to other staff from mem-
ber organizations and agencies as author-
ized by the multidisciplinary agency for the
purposes of promoting case management,
community supervision, conduct control,
and tracking of the serious habitual of-
fender for the application and coordination
of appropriate services; and
‘‘(iii) access to the information in the
records shall be limited to individuals who
provide direct services to the serious habit-
ual offender or who provide community
conduct control and supervision to the seri-
ous habitual offender.’’.
SEC. 4. JUVENILE ADJUDICATIONS CONSIDERED IN SEN-
TENCING.
Pursuant to section 994 of title 28, United States
Code, the United States Sentencing Commission shall pro-
mulgate guidelines or amend existing guidelines to provide
that offenses contained in the juvenile record of an adult
defendant shall be considered as adult offenses in sentenc-
ing determinations if such juvenile offenses would have
constituted a felony had they been committed by the de-
fendant as an adult.
SEC. 5. ACCESS TO JUVENILE RECORDS.
Section 5038(a) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(7) inquiries from officials of a school, school
district, or any postsecondary school where the indi-
vidual who is the subject of the juvenile record
seeks, intends, or is instructed or ordered to enroll.’’.
SEC. 6. INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.
Paragraph (3) of section 615(e) of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(e)(3)) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(A) Except as provided in sub-
paragraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) Except as pro-
vided in subparagraphs (B) and (C)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(C) This paragraph shall not apply to a
child with a disability who commits a criminal
act, on the property of a school under the juris-
diction of the State or local educational agency,
which would be considered a crime if committed
by an adult and such act subsequently becomes
the basis for a juvenile adjudication or criminal
proceeding involving the child.’’.
SEC. 7. LIMITED DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL BUREAU OF IN-
VESTIGATION RECORDS.
Section 534(e) of title 28, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the follow-
ing new paragraph:
‘‘(3) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation, Identification Division shall provide, upon re-
quest, the information received under the provisions of
paragraph (25) of section 223(a) of the Juvenile Justice
Delinquency and Prevention Act of 1974, to officials of
a school, school district, or postsecondary school where the
individual who is the subject of such information seeks,
intends, or is instructed or ordered to enroll.’’.
SEC. 8. AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL JUVENILE DELIN-
QUENCY ACT.
(a) PROSECUTION OF JUVENILES AS ADULTS.—Sec-
tion 5032 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
inserting before the first undesignated paragraph the fol-
lowing:
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
juvenile defendants 14 years of age or older shall be
prosecuted as adults, and this chapter shall not
apply, if such juveniles are charged with an offense
that constitutes—
‘‘(A) murder or attempted murder;
‘‘(B) robbery while armed with a dan-
gerous or deadly weapon;
‘‘(C) battery or assault while armed with a
dangerous or deadly weapon;
‘‘(D) forcible rape;
‘‘(E) any serious drug offense which, if
committed by an adult, would be punishable
under section 401(b)(1)(A) or 408 of the Con-
trolled 
Substances 
Act 
(21 
U.S.C.
841(b)(1)(A), 848) or section 1010(b)(1)(A) of
the Controlled Substances Import and Export
Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(1)(A));
‘‘(F) the third or subsequent occasion, un-
related to any previous occasion, on which such
juveniles engage in conduct for which adults
could be imprisoned for a term exceeding 1
year, unless, on a case-by-case basis—
‘‘(i) a court determines that trying
such a juvenile as an adult is not in the in-
terest of justice;
‘‘(ii) such court records its reasons for
making such a determination in writing
and makes such record available for in-
spection by the public at large; and
‘‘(iii) the court makes a record in
writing of the disposition of the juvenile in
the juvenile justice system available to the
public, notwithstanding any other law re-
quiring such information to be withheld or
limited in any way from access by the pub-
lic.’’.
(b) AMENDMENTS CONCERNING RECORDS.—Section
5038 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking subsections (d) and (f);
(2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub-
section (d); and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(e)(1) Whenever—
‘‘(A) a juvenile under 14 years of age has been
found guilty of committing an act which if commit-
ted by an adult would be an offense described in the
first undesignated paragraph of section 5032; or
‘‘(B) a juvenile, age 14 and older, is adju-
dicated delinquent in a juvenile delinquency proceed-
ing for conduct which if committed by an adult
would constitute a felony,
the court shall comply with the requirements of paragraph
(2).
‘‘(2) The requirements referred to in paragraph (1)
are that—
‘‘(A) a record shall be kept relating to the adju-
dication that is—
‘‘(i) equivalent to the record that would be
kept of an adult conviction for such an offense;
‘‘(ii) retained for a period of time that is
equal to the period of time records are kept for
adult convictions;
‘‘(iii) made available to law enforcement
agencies of any jurisdiction;
‘‘(iv) made available to officials of a school,
school district, or postsecondary school where
the individual who is the subject of the juvenile
record seeks, intends, or is instructed to enroll,
and that such officials are held liable to the
same standards and penalties that law enforce-
ment and juvenile justice system employees are
held liable to, under Federal and State law for
handling and disclosing such information; and
‘‘(v) made available, once the juvenile be-
comes an adult or is tried as an adult, to any
court having criminal jurisdiction over such an
individual for the purpose of allowing such
court to consider the individual’s prior juvenile
history as a relevant factor in determining ap-
propriate punishment for the individual at the
sentencing hearing;
‘‘(B) the juvenile shall be fingerprinted and
photographed, and the fingerprints and photograph
shall be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Identification Division and shall otherwise be made
available to the same extent that fingerprints and
photographs of adults are made available; and
‘‘(C) the court in which the adjudication takes
place shall transmit to the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation, Identification Division, information con-
cerning the adjudication, including the name, date of
adjudication, court, offenses, and disposition, along
with a prominent notation that the matter concerns
a juvenile adjudication;
‘‘(3) If a juvenile has been adjudicated to be delin-
quent on 2 or more separate occasions based on conduct
that would be a felony if committed by an adult, the record
of the second and all subsequent adjudications shall be
kept and made available to the public to the same extent
that a record of an adult conviction is open to the public.’’.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
(b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The amendments made by sub-
sections (b) and (c) of section 3 shall not apply with re-
spect to a State before the first fiscal year that begins
after the end of the first regular session of the State legis-
lature following the date of the enactment of this Act.
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