Criminal age raised to 18 in Missouri
The 13th Judicial Circuit juvenile division will see a caseload increase of about 250 annually and anticipates additional staff will be needed when a new Missouri law takes effect in 2021 raising the age of adult offenders to 18 years old.
Ruth McCluskey, juvenile officer for the 13th judicial circuit that serves Boone and Callaway counties, said the circuit has been evaluating “Raise the Age” legislation for several years and the anticipated caseload increase of about 250 offenders, 18 percent, annually will have some local impact.
“The first impact will be on processing cases through either informal or formal process and providing supervision and programming services, including alternatives to detention programming,” McCluskey said. “It is believed that the juvenile office would need additional full-time employees to assist with processing the additional referrals and providing supervision and programming services to youth.”
The second effect, McCluskey said, would be the need for additional staffing and other changes at the detention center, which currently has space for 45 offenders.
Read more: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/20180719/criminal-age-raised-to-18-in-missouri