Prosecuting Juvenile Crimes in Oklahoma

When my oldest was growing up and made a bad decision she liked to remind me that “your prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until you’re 25.” The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that governs executive function like short term memory, planning, decision making, personality, and social behavior. Further studies show that severe childhood trauma can impair its development.

While my daughter used that little developmental fact as a way to try to mitigate punishment when she got in trouble, it was an important factoid that I filed away for later use, primarily for mitigation evidence but also for an argument on how to charge young people. As someone who works with young people impacted by trauma and the legal system, I see first hand how that lack of development impacts decision making when juveniles are charged with crimes.

Our juvenile system in Oklahoma is structured such that young men and women charged with crimes may stay in the juvenile system or move into the adult system at a young age, depending on the severity of the crime and their amenability to rehabilitation. Minors under the age of 18 are adjudicated as delinquent when they are charged with certain minor crimes. They are not “convicted” of a crime in the way an adult is convicted of a crime. The young person may be sentenced to probation or on more severe acts serve time in a juvenile detention facility. This is for young offenders and/or minor crimes. However, for more severe crimes the juvenile is charged as an adult or Youthful Offender.

For juveniles aged 13-17 who commit more severe crimes they are generally charged under the Youthful Offenders Act (YOA). The YOA is found at 10A OS 2-5-201 et seq. It is the purpose of the YOA to protect public safety by holding youths accountable for committing crimes while also allowing better means of rehabilitation for the youths. Children aged 13-14 who are charged with murder in the first degree may be charged as a Youthful Offender (YO) while other children are not charged as YO until reaching the age of 15 for such crimes as murder in the second degree, kidnapping, manslaughter in the first degree, robbery with a dangerous weapon or firearm or attempt thereof, robbery in the first degree or attempt thereof, rape in the first degree or attempt thereof, rape by instrumentation or attempt thereof, forcible sodomy, lewd molestation, arson in the first degree or attempt thereof, shooting with intent to kill, use of vehicle to facilitate discharge of firearm, and assault and battery with a deadly weapon. Finally youths aged 16 to 17 may be charged as a YO for burglary in the first degree or attempted burglary in the first degree, battery or assault and battery on a state employee or contractor while in the custody or supervision of the Office of Juvenile Affairs, aggravated assault and battery of a police officer, intimidating a witness, trafficking in or manufacturing illegal drugs, assault or assault and battery with a deadly weapon, maiming, residential burglary in the second degree after two or more adjudications that are separated in time for delinquency for committing burglary in the first degree or residential burglary in the second degree, rape in the second degree; or use of a firearm while in commission of a felony.

To charge a juvenile as a YO the state must file a youthful offender information. This is similar to the information filed against an adult individual alleged to have committed a criminal act. Additionally, either the state or the defense can request that the juvenile not be tried as a YO. If the state is making this request they are seeking to try the juvenile as an adult, not as a YO. While if the defense is contesting the designation they are seeking to have the individual tried as a juvenile instead of a YO. The sentence a YO defendant will receive is the same in length as an adult offender except that a YO will have a specific plan of rehabilitation and serve the sentence in the juvenile system at least until the age of 18. A YO defendant may stay in the juvenile system up until the age of 20 when they either complete their sentence or transfer to the adult system. Compliance is key for the young person to successfully complete a YO program of treatment.

The YOA was originally passed in 1994 and over the last 28 years has had various amendments that have made it cumbersome and difficult to follow. In 2022, SB 217 was passed with bipartisan support to reform the YOA. The purpose of the reform was to update the system to ensure that youths committing serious crimes experienced serious consequences while also staying out of the adult criminal justice system. This allows youth to have a better shot at reform and rehabilitation with an emphasis on treatment to prevent recidivism. The new reforms will go into effect on November 1, 2022.