NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee lawmakers are gathering this week for Governor Bill Lee’s special session on public safety, where they will discuss proposed bills to address mental health, gun safety and school safety measures.

Some of the juvenile justice bills to be considered this week include expanding offenses where juveniles may be tried as adults and requiring mental health adjudications.

Juvenile Courts

HB7026: Requires a court that makes mental health adjudications regarding children to enter a standing and continuing order instructing the juvenile court clerk to collect and report certain information regarding children who have been adjudicated as a mental defective or judicially committed to a mental institution within three business days for the purposes of complying with federal law.

HB7062: Authorizes the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to inspect files and records of the court in a juvenile court proceeding for the purposes of complying with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 and the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007.

HB7057: Creates an alternative sentencing pilot program for children adjudicated delinquent who are under 25.

HB7085: States that the juvenile court records of a person who was transferred from juvenile court to be tried as an adult in criminal court and who is subsequently convicted may be expunged only by a court order issued under the court in which the person was convicted.

Juvenile Offenders

HB7029: Requires juvenile offenders 16 years of age or more who are alleged to have committed certain offenses and meeting certain other criteria to be transferred to adult criminal court for disposition as if the juvenile were an adult. 

HB7030: Expands the offenses for which a juvenile court may transfer a child to be tried as an adult in criminal court, if the child was 16 years of age or more at the time of the offense, to include burglary involving the theft of a firearm or an attempt to commit such offense; adds an appeal process for a criminal court to review a juvenile court’s determination for such transfers.

HB7031: Expands the offenses for which a juvenile court may transfer a child to be tried as an adult in criminal court, if the child was 16 or older at the time of the offense, to include theft of a firearm or attempt to commit theft of a firearm; adds an appeal process for a criminal court to review a juvenile court’s determination for such transfers.

HB7045: Establishes a pilot program under which a juvenile court may retain jurisdiction over a child until the child’s twenty-fifth birthday and impose a sentence upon the child that could be imposed if the offense was committed by an adult; requires any portion of the disposition imposed that extends prior to the child’s twenty-fifth birthday to be stayed pending completion of requirements set forth by the court at the time of disposition.

HB7046: Creates a pilot program under which a juvenile court may retain jurisdiction over the child who was adjudicated delinquent for an offense that was eligible to be transferred to criminal court; allows the court to impose a sentence upon the child that could be imposed if the offense was committed by an adult, but any portion of the disposition imposed that extends prior to the child’s twenty-fifth birthday must be stayed pending completion of requirements set forth by the court at the time of disposition.

HB7060: Requires juvenile offenders alleged to have committed certain offenses and meeting certain other criteria to be transferred to adult criminal court for disposition as if the juvenile were an adult; authorizes an appeal for such transfers.

HB7073: Requires a juvenile court to impose a blended sentence on a child adjudicated delinquent for certain offenses; defines blended sentencing as a combination of any disposition otherwise provided for juveniles and a period of an adult disposition to be served after the child turns 19 and which ends on or before the child’s 24th birthday; requires the juvenile court to hold a transfer hearing if a juvenile offender is 16 or more but less than 18 at the time of the alleged conduct and is alleged to have committed certain offenses; requires the juvenile court to transfer the juvenile to adult criminal court for disposition as if the juvenile were an adult if the court makes certain findings; provides for an automatic de novo review by the criminal court of a juvenile court’s decision denying a transfer to adult criminal court.

Administrative Office of the Courts

HB7051: Requires the Administrative Office of the Courts in conjunction with the department of finance and administration’s office of criminal justice programs to establish an extended pilot program for the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders to be administered by clerks of juvenile courts in this state.