NC lawmaker wants to stop trying all 16 year olds as adults

CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — Youth advocates are hoping they can pass a bill this year that would stop having all 16 and 17 year olds tried as adults in the North Carolina court system.

A bill that would send older teens to the juvenile system when charged with misdemeanors passed the House in 2014, but stalled in the Senate.

Democratic Wake County Rep. Duane Hall told The Charlotte Observer he filed a new bill to create an advisory committee to oversee plans for a similar system. He thinks it can pass the Senate this time.

The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association says it isn’t against the plan, but worries money won’t be provided to implement it.

North Carolina and New York are the only states to automatically try all 16 year olds as adults.

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