A 2013 overhaul of the criminal justice system relied on community services to keep low-level offenders out of Department of Corrections institutions. Ten years later, the legislature is learning that there aren’t enough community services to make that plan work.
Senate Bill 4 is one of the bills designed to address the problem. The bill, if passed, will give judges in South Dakota greater discretion to send juvenile repeat offenders to DOC. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill on Thursday, Feb. 2.
SB 4 exposes juveniles to DOC services if they have three or more adjudications in one year.
During testimony before the Senate Judiciary, opposition came from South Dakota Criminal Defense Lawyers, represented by Pierre attorney Cash Anderson.
He pointed out that juvenile offenders are adjudicated for a wide range of offenses, and those whose crimes are minor should not be put in the same facility with harder cases.
“I’d like to see addressing the underlying needs and problems of these juveniles so that these issues can be taken care of earlier,” Anderson said.
But the Gregory County State’s Attorney said services to address those needs and problems are scarce or nonexistent in rural areas.
Amy Bartling-Jacobsen said rural kids are disadvantaged by geography.
“Minnehaha County has 16 service providers for behavioral health,” she said. “Pennington County has nine. Our county, Gregory County, we have one service provider that is the primary service provider for four separate counties.”
She said she has been told there’s no funding available unless the Department of Social Services makes a referral. But she’s also been told that DSS can’t help unless there’s an allegation of abuse and neglect.
“So we continue to tail-chase to figure out how to get these juveniles the services they need,” she said.
Bartling-Jacobsen said that removal from the home is often necessary, and a referral to DOC for diversion programs or treatment centers could help without overloading the system.
A Unified Judicial System study indicates 46 children a year would qualify for this extended referral to DOC.
Senate Bill 4 is one of the recommendations that came out of the summer interim committee studying issues in juvenile justice.
