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Tennessee Republican lawmakers have introduced a handful of bills that would create harsher consequences for juvenile criminal offenses and allow more teens to be tried as adults.
The Republican-controlled state legislature reconvened last week, and the bills come as Metro Nashville Police Department officials have told residents frustrated by car break-ins and other crimes that the state’s juvenile justice laws are too lax.
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Nashville police made 2,002 juvenile arrests in 2024, according to data from the MNPD, a 4.4 percent increase over 2023. At the same time, state data shows that the juvenile crime rate declined in Tennessee’s four largest counties between 2013 and 2023.
One bill, filed this month by Rep. Robert Stevens (R-Smyrna), would require juveniles 16 or older to be tried in adult court for their second offense.
“While we believe in giving young people a chance to turn their lives around, we can’t ignore when someone continues to re-offend despite opportunities for change,” Stevens said in a written statement to the Banner. “After talking with local law enforcement, we’re confident that moving these cases to criminal court will ensure that the right consequences are in place for those who keep putting public safety at risk.”
Stevens’ bill follows a massive overhaul of the juvenile justice system last year after lawmakers passed two laws that will increase the number of children tried in adult courts. One of those was the so-called “blended sentencing” law, which made youth charged with serious offenses eligible for adult criminal sentences and required them for juveniles charged with first or second-degree murder. Jasmine Miller, a Nashville-based attorney at the Youth Law Center, told the Banner that Stevens’ bill goes even further by exposing youth accused of lower-level offenses to the adult criminal system.
“What that might look like is you’ve got a 13-year-old who came in on vandalism, and then maybe four years later, they show up on marijuana possession,” Miller said. “That young person is going to end up in adult court.”
Making that transfer to adult court a requirement would also strip judges of their discretion in more juvenile cases.
There’s no estimate yet for the fiscal impact of moving so many formerly civil juvenile cases into adult criminal courts. But Miller said that the financial cost and the effect on troubled youth may well show up disproportionately in rural Tennessee counties. Whereas cities like Nashville have a number of resources and diversionary programs meant to keep teens out of the criminal justice system, she said many smaller counties around the state don’t.
Another proposal would make a person’s juvenile record more likely to follow them into adulthood. That bill, filed by Rep. John Gillespie (R-Memphis), would allow courts to consider a person’s juvenile record when making decisions about bond. State law currently prevents juvenile court records from being used against the person in other courts except in limited circumstances.
Gillespie said in a written statement that “public officials have a duty to make every reasonable effort to achieve maximum public safety.”
“Judicial magistrates are entitled to all relevant details in making bail considerations to keep violent criminals in custody,” he said. “These bills will provide the full picture of a defendant’s criminal history while at the same time ensuring transparency and accountability.”
Another bill filed by Gillespie would make the parents or legal guardians of a juvenile adjudicated for a third delinquent act responsible for restitution to law enforcement.
This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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