Proposal would raise ‘age of delinquency’ by three years

A 10-year-old child who commits a delinquent act or petty offense in Minnesota is not considered “in need of protection or services” in the eyes of the law but can instead be considered “delinquent” and subject to the juvenile justice system.

That means that rather than behavioral or treatment interventions, preteens can be arrested and prosecuted, potentially putting them on a much different path in life with a much greater risk of long-term damage.

Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL-St. Paul) believes the “age of delinquency” should be raised from 10 to 13 and sponsors HF3671 to do just that.

The House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee adopted a delete-all amendment to the bill Thursday, approved the bill on a voice vote and sent it to the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee.

Pinto said the amendment would delay the age change until Aug. 1, 2026 because of the complexities involved. He also believes it would have a fiscal impact so, after the public safety panel hears the bill, he expects it will be returned to the children and families committee.

Rep. Dave Pinto

“I do think this is a direction we should go and, if fact, I think we are an outlier among many other states in terms of having an age that is so low,” he said.

Sarah Davis, director of the Children and Families Division at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, said current law has three critical problems: it’s ineffective, it doesn’t align with developmental science, and it fails to address problems in the context of the family as a whole.

She said children ages 10 to 12 are usually found not competent to stand trial because they are simply too young; science over the last decade has found kids that age have brains that are “fundamentally different” from adults; and the juvenile justice system is not set up to hold families accountable for addressing the needs of the child, which is also critically important.

“Research is clear that any time spent in the juvenile delinquency system opens a child’s future to negative outcomes academically, socially, physically, and mentally,” representatives of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Minnesota, wrote in submitted testimony.

Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar (R-Fredenberg Township) said there is a rise in violent crimes being committed by younger children and asked, if the current path isn’t working, what the new path should look like.

“What I’m hearing in the state is that we don’t have resources for adequate placement, necessarily, for what the options are for these children,” she said.

Pinto, who has dealt with violent crimes as a prosecutor for over 15 years, acknowledged that concern and said one of the reasons for delayed implementation would be to address situations such as those where secure confinement of a child is needed.

“That may well be necessary for some children, but to do so in a way that is actually trying to help get the child on the right path,” Pinto said.