House passes bill to raise age of criminal responsibility from 17 to 18

The age of criminal responsibility in Texas would rise from 17 to 18 under a bill House lawmakers passed Thursday. 

House Bill 122, known as the "Raise the Age" bill, would move 17-year-old offenders from the adult criminal justice system to its juvenile justice counterpart starting in 2021.

Advocates say treating 17-year-olds as juveniles makes sense; they say their rehabilitation needs are similar to younger teens in the juvenile justice system and that the move would keep them safe from exploitation by older prisoners. They also argue their recidivism rates would drop. 

And transferring the thousands of Texas 17-year-old offenders in the adult prison system to the juvenile justice system would put Texas in compliance with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which prohibits all 17-year-old inmates from being within sight and sound of older prisoners.

The measure passed 92-52, but not without some heated discussion on the House floor.

State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, said raising the age would cost the state millions of dollars and leave counties with an unfunded mandate to take care of more juvenile offenders. State Rep. Harold Dutton, Jr., the bill's sponsor and a Houston Democrat, pushed back, saying Burrows' concern is a popular criticism that's already been debunked.

In states that have raised the age, the cost estimates have either been overstated or the state has saved money, Dutton said. Dutton added that concerns about public safety are not warranted because the most heinous offenders could still be tried as adults.

The House bill now heads across the hall to the Senate, where a mirror bill already sits in that chamber's Criminal Justice Committee. The bill has not had a hearing, and the committee's chairman, state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, told The Texas Tribune he has concerns about raising the age of criminal responsibility.

Texas is one of six states that automatically treats 17-year-olds as adults. The list has shrunk dramatically in the past 10 years. 

"What does 2017 and 1918 have in common?" asked Dutton, chairman of the House Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee. "1918 is when Texas decided to hold 17-year-olds criminally responsible."

To quell concerns over costs, state Rep. James White, R-Hillister, proposed an amendment that would delay implementation from 2019 to 2021 and charge an advisory committee with issuing a summary of costs and needs associated with raising the age of criminal responsibility. Dutton accepted the amendment.

White's amendment didn't move Burrows.

"Let's figure out what the costs are first" before passing the bill, he told White.

Read related Tribune coverage:

• Democratic state Sen. John Whitmire of Houston says a bill that would raise the age of adult criminal responsibility in Texas from 17 to 18 years old fails to address his chief concerns: cost and safety.