Senate advances bill to improve juvenile drug and alcohol correctional system


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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker says while there’s no doubt drugs and alcohol can set youths on a spiraling trajectory, the state’s laws don't help as much as they should.

Kayla Memmott, a University of Utah graduate student studying social work, said she’s seen how Utah's criminal system hinders minors who are snared by alcohol or drugs.

Rather than encouraging a better path, the current system instills hopelessness in these youths' minds, Memmott said.

“Getting that label of a criminal very early on is huge,” she said. “It impacts their personal lives, it impacts their way of thinking, and it almost traps them in the criminal system.”

A Senate committee listened to Memmott on Wednesday before approving a bill that would require Utah courts to order a screening, assessment and an educational class or substance abuse treatment if it’s found appropriate for a minor who’s committed a second violation of certain alcohol- or drug-related offenses.

HB284, sponsored by Rep. Edward Redd, R-Logan, would also authorize a court to reduce the driver's license suspension period of a minor who commits drug offenses. Utah law currently only allows courts to do so for alcohol offenses.

Under the existing law, if minors are caught in possession of drugs, they automatically lose their driver's license for one year for the first offense and two years for the second offense, with no ability to reinstate the license earlier, Redd said.

The current sentencing process also includes no provision for assessment or treatment, which does not provide Utah juveniles with opportunties they need to head in a better direction, he said.

“Taking away a driver's license limits the opportunities that kid might have to actually have some really positive things happen, like getting a good job, participating in school, going to a technical college, that sort of thing,” Redd said. “(This bill) gives judges an opportunity to work with the youth … and get them back on track so they don’t get stuck in this rut of being a criminal.”

Many Utah judges want to help youths, the lawmaker said, but they “don’t have the option right now for drug offenses.”

Mary Lou Emerson, director of the Utah Substance Abuse Advisory Council, said it’s “critical” that youths are assessed and treated for drug or alcohol abuse as soon as possible, before they fall into criminal habits or addiction. She said HB284 would better enable those practices in Utah’s sentencing system.

“The earlier we can identify what’s going on with them, particularly with alcohol- or drug-use behaviors, the more opportunity there is to turn those behaviors around and make sure that they can grow up alcohol- and drug-free and lead productive lives,” Emerson said.

Redd said HB284 would pave better paths for at-risk youths in Utah so juvenile courts can help them “become drug-free and alcohol-free without just having one big hammer to hit them with.”

“Taking away driver's licenses does not treat the problem," he said. "It just ingrains in them this idea that they’re no good. In my mind, they’re all good. In my mind, there’s hope for all these kids.”

The Senate Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology Committee endorsed HB284 with a 4-0 vote. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

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Katie McKellar

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