LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A bill to change the way teens are prosecuted for certain crimes is moving forward.
A Senate committee approved the proposal that would prosecute teens as adults if they're charged with felonies involving guns. It reverses a 2021 law that ended the automatic transfer from juvenile to adult court in certain cases.
When explaining his bill, Senator Matthew Deneen said youth crime is on the rise and goes beyond Louisville and Lexington.
"It is our responsibility, I believe, to draw a line in the sand and to say for these types of crimes, these adult crimes, that the punishment should be fitting of the crime," Deneen said.
The bill would allow for a teen's case to return to juvenile court if prosecutors choose to, but Senator Whitney Westerfield (R-3) argued an automatic transfer still takes away a judge's discretion.
Westerfield helped pass the 2021 law.
"You have robbed the prosecution and the court of weighing the factors that have been in statute long before I got here. In fact, long before I was practicing law," Westerfield argued. "The seriousness of the offense, whether it was against property or a person with greater weight given to offenses against people, the maturity of the child, as determined by their environment, their prior record."
The bill goes to the full Senate for consideration.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.