Juvenile Justice Committee Summary

The Florida House of Representatives Committee on Juvenile Justice, Chaired by Representative Mitch Needelman (R-Melbourne) met on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 to hear proposed legislation and a report from participants in the Chairman’s Contracting Workgroup. 

To view the Action packet from today’s meeting, click here.  To view the complete Committee packet, click here.

The Committee spent a large amount of time discussing HB 273 by Representative Sandy Adams (R-Oviedo), which proposes several changes to pretrial detention of juvenile offenders. To view the bill, click here.

The Committee heard testimony from representatives of the Florida Association of Counties and the Florida Association of Public Offenders who voiced concerns relating to the fiscal impact of HB 273.  The extended discussion of this legislation also included questions relating to the appropriateness of lengthy periods of pre-trial detention for non-violent juvenile offenders. 

The Committee also heard from three members of the Chairman’s Contracting Workgroup, who were tasked with crafting solutions to regulatory roadblocks faced by contractors who work with the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). 

Amy Johnson, Chief of Contracting for DJJ; Jeff Kaplan of the Florida Juvenile Justice Association; and Peter Harris of Associated Industries of Florida all reported that they had reached compromise and no legislation would be required to fix the problems. 

Upon hearing that no legislation would be necessary, Chairman Needleman requested that all three members of the Workgroup prepare a letter addressed to the Chair signifying their agreement that legislation is not necessary.

 

Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

 

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an email to ccochran@cftlaw.com