Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will lead two subcommittee meetings this month to study a rewrite of the state’s juvenile code.

Sen. Bill Hamrick, R-Carrollton, has authored Senate Bill 292, The Child Protection and Public Safety Act, a proposed rewrite of existing laws dealing with juvenile crime.

The state has long been grappling with the issue of how to deal with juvenile offenders.

Rome’s Norman Fletcher, a former Georgia Supreme Court chief justice and member of the Georgia Appleseed board, said earlier this year that a revision to the code,

adopted around 1970, would be a great “step forward.”

“Common Wisdom: Making the Case for a New Georgia Juvenile Code” was released in December by the Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and Just Georgia, a nonprofit legal advocacy group for children.

The group is hoping the legislature will produce a more streamlined code.
Smith represents the 52nd Senate District, which includes Floyd County and portions of Bartow and Gordon counties.

 

Rome News Tribune