ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
STATE LEGISLATORS are close to putting together a bipartisan plan to overhaul Virginia's system of juvenile justice, likely the hallmark issue of this year's General Assembly session.
Lawmakers hope today to unveil a comprehensive proposal for the treatment of young criminals in Virginia, one that will include some harsher penalties and more opportunities for treatment and reform.
Portions of the plan could be controversial. General Assembly negotiators had not agreed late Tuesday on trying and sentencing Virginia's most violent juveniles as adults, for instance.
But lawmakers from both parties say they have come together on many more issues, and already are billing the overhaul of Virginia's system of juvenile justice as a bipartisan success of the 1996 General Assembly.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee, under scheduling pressure to review the plan, will hold a public hearing at 2 p.m. today regardless of whether negotiators reach a compromise that everyone accepts.
``Frankly, I'm getting a little nervous because it's taking the two sides so long,'' said state Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax County and chairman of the committee. ``But they tell me that great progress has been made, and we have to move.''
Two commissions, one appointed by Gov. George Allen and another named by the Democrat-controlled legislature, issued separate juvenile justice proposals late last year. In many areas, the plans are similar:
Both call for making juvenile trials more open to the public, and for dealing with truancy more severely. Parents who allow their children to skip school could spend up to a year in jail under the proposals.
Both call for segregating violent young offenders from those guilty of petty crimes by building a new juvenile prison, though lawmakers disagree on if it should be part of the adult corrections system.
Under both plans, more young criminals who commit violent crimes will eventually find themselves in the adult prison system. And many will serve longer sentences.
Senators and delegates from both parties, with help from Allen and Attorney General Jim Gilmore, have been working since early this month to craft a bipartisan consensus.
Two Hampton Roads lawmakers - Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, and Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake - are at the heart of the negotiations. Neither would discuss the plans in detail.
Other negotiators would not even confirm that talks were under way. ``We agreed not to discuss anything, even with other legislators,'' one participant said. ``That spirit of cooperation has held, and no one wants to violate it.''
But Jones acknowledged that one sticking point has been when to treat minors as adults. Anyone older than 13 who commits a violent crime would be treated as an adult under the plan from Allen's commission. The legislature's Commission on Youth, which Jones heads, would give judges more discretion.
Another disagreement between the plans: Whether juvenile homes should resemble reform schools or prisons.
Gartlan said the reform proposals also must be considered by the legislature's money committees. Jones' commission proposed $30.5 million for prevention and treatment programs and the hiring of new prosecutors and parole officers. Allen wants $17 million to renovate a detention center for juveniles sentenced as adults.
The Senate has two weeks to consider the proposal, then must transfer all its legislation to the House of Delegates. An identical version could be offered in the House so that members there can start considering the proposal immediately.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB