Juvenile Code Reform Legislation (HB 879) Becomes Effective December 1, 2015

In a prior post, I wrote about SB 331, which proposed several changes to the delinquency subchapter of the Juvenile Code. That bill didn’t make it. Instead, it became HB 879 (enacted as S.L. 2015-58), which includes several new laws intended to either increase due process protections for juveniles, reduce further entry of juveniles in the delinquency system, or reduce juvenile confinement. Although it’s similar to the prior Senate bill, there are some important differences that you should know about before the new laws become effective on December 1, 2015. One of these laws involves a juvenile age increase, although it’s not quite the change for which “raise the age” advocates were lobbying. [Editor's note: This post appeared last week on the School of Government's civil law blog. I thought it would be of interest to many readers of this blog and I appreciate LaToya's willingness to cross-post it here.] Due Process Protections Custodial Interrogation Age Increase - Amended G.S. 7B-2101(b) increases from 13 to 15 the age at which a juvenile must have a parent or attorney present during a custodial interrogation in order for the juvenile’s statement to be admissible. The practical effect of this change is that juveniles who are 14 or 15 may no longer waive the right to have a parent or attorney present during a custodial interrogation. Bifurcated Hearing Requirement - Amended G.S. 7B-2202(f) and G.S. 7B-2203(d) require that adjudication hearings be held separately from hearings to determine probable cause and transfer. This change will [...]