Juvenile justice legislation moves to House

A bill to give a judge discretion when it comes to certain juvenile justice cases passed through the state Senate with a 36-2 vote on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 87, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, would remove a provision of state law that mandates that judges transfer a child or teen from juvenile court to Circuit Court to be tried as an adult if a firearm was involved in the commission of a crime.

Instead, if approved, the bill would make whether a firearm was involved just one of the factors a judge could consider while deciding whether to transfer a child to adult court. Read more about the bill and comments from Sen. Westerfield on the Messenger-Inquirer.

Senate Bill 87 now moves to the House for consideration in committee.