Juvenile Justice Amendments

Added a mandatory requirement for schools to refer a minor directly to a court or law enforcement if the minor commits a drug possession offense on school property for the third time.

Added a new definition of 'drug possession offense' to specify offenses involving unlawful possession or use of controlled substances or analogs.

Modified the eligibility criteria for nonjudicial adjustments to explicitly exclude minors with a third drug possession offense from receiving informal settlements.

Updated data reporting requirements and coordination clauses to align with new drug recodification statutes and improve consistency in tracking juvenile recidivism.

Added a specific definition for 'drug offense' to clarify which offenses trigger mandatory referrals to law enforcement or courts.

Updated notification and referral requirements for school-based offenses to prioritize evidence-based alternative interventions before referring minors to law enforcement or courts.

Added a requirement to collect data on recidivism for minors who participate in youth court programs.

Added a coordination clause to ensure that definitions in this bill align with future changes from a separate drug recodification bill (H.B. 301).

Adjusted eligibility criteria for nonjudicial adjustments to reflect updated drug offense classifications.

Added a new section (53G-8-509.1) defining terms for offenses committed at school to standardize notification procedures.

Modified notification requirements to mandate that principals notify law enforcement immediately for drug offenses described in Section 58-37-8, whereas previous versions allowed for investigation first.

Modified referral procedures to require schools to attempt evidence-based alternative interventions or youth services before referring a student to law enforcement for minor infractions like class C misdemeanors or status offenses.

Modified eligibility for nonjudicial adjustments (diversion) to explicitly exclude certain drug possession offenses and specific violent crimes for minors aged 12 and older.

Modified the definition of 'school-based offense' to include incidents occurring on school district transportation, such as school buses.

Modified data reporting requirements to include tracking 'school-based recidivism' and 'school-based referrals' alongside general juvenile justice statistics.

Modified search procedures to require the presence of a school resource officer during any search on school property related to drug offenses.