page_title: North Carolina age of juvenile jurisdiction
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: North Carolina age of juvenile jurisdiction / History
caption_attribution_description: English: North Carolina Representative for District 40
context_page_description: Raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction in the state of North Carolina has been an ongoing issue in the North Carolina General Assembly. There are currently two pieces of legislation focusing on this issue, Senate Bill 506 and House Bill 632, which seek to raise the age of jurisdiction from 16 to 18. Four members of the North Carolina House of Representatives serve as the primary sponsors and there are twenty-six co-sponsors. Most of U.S. States define an adult at 18 years old; however, North Carolina and New York define a juvenile who has committed a criminal offense as no older than 16, which places 16- and 17-year-olds in a position where they are tried as adults for any offense.
  Various advocacy groups are in favor of the proposed legislation and see the answer to a more productive society as one which conceals the criminal record of a minor through the age at which an individual is charged in adult court. While opponents fear this legislation will create opportunity for repeat offenders, they are also concerned with the funding for the program, as it seems there is not enough funding at the current capacity.
context_section_description: Juvenile jurisdiction issues originated in 1919, "when fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds initially charged in juvenile court with felonies could be transferred to superior court. Since that time, transfer to adult court has been mandatory for some of the state's most serious felonies.  In 1994, the minimum age of transfer was reduced from fourteen to thirteen, giving North Carolina judges the discretion to transfer offenders as young as thirteen from juvenile to superior court for any felony crime." The controversy surrounding raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction has been contested for years.  "In 1919, child welfare advocates recognized that providing preventative services to young offenders through the juvenile court system would likely lower the crime rate.  In 1947, welfare officials recommended that young offenders receive treatment in specialized boarding homes and detention centers rather than adult jails, as they had found that this investment of time, effort, and money was more than repaid by the improvement in the behavior and attitudes of the children. In 1957, the governor asserted that including sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds within the original jurisdiction of juvenile court would ultimately provide great savings in money and human services.  In 1967, it was found that rehabilitating young offenders by providing meaningful academic services and vocational education in open, closely supervised training schools lowered recidivism rates more effectively than methods that punish, ignore, isolate or try to fit the children into a pattern."
  North Carolina House Bill 632 is bipartisan and supported primarily by children advocacy groups such as Action for Children North Carolina and have made several attempts to push legislation.   The primary sponsors of the bill include Representatives David Lewis, Shirley Randleman, Marilyn Avila, and Alice Bordsen. The bill is described as "an act to amend the definition of delinquent juvenile to raise the age from sixteen to eighteen years in six-month increments over a four-year period, to provide that sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds who have been previously convicted of a felony in adult court shall remain in adult court, to provide that sixteen- and seventeen-year olds alleged delinquent for a class A-E felony shall be transferred to adult court, to make conforming changes to other statutes relevant to changing the definition of delinquent juvenile, and to extend the youth accountability task force."  This bill was filed on April 5, 2011 and was referred to the Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House on the following day.  On April 7, 2011 the bill was withdrawn from the committee and was re-referred to the Committee.  Similar bills have failed in the past because they do not consider the biggest problem associated with the legislation which is the cost associated with increasing the number of children in an underfunded program.
  According to WRAL-TV News, "the suggestion is to raise the age of jurisdiction only for misdemeanors and low-level nonviolent felony offenses.  It would not apply in cases where a person is accused of violent crimes." Peg Dorer, executive director of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, states "adult courts are better suited to handle adolescents charges with serious offenses like rape, manslaughter, larceny, or murder."  In the year 2009, "more than 96 percent were convictions for misdemeanors or low-level felonies."  According to Jeff Hampton of The Virginian-Pilot, "Changing the law in North Carolina would move 20,000 teens annually into the juvenile system when the conversion is completed, doubling the current load, according to a 2009 report by the North Carolina Governor's Crime Commission."
caption: Representative Marilyn Avila, one of the primary sponsors of House Bill 632
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