A plan backed by state Rep. Daire Rendon to end the policy requiring all 17-year-olds to be treated as adults in Michigan’s criminal justice system is on its way to the governor’s desk.

Rendon, who helped sponsor the plan alongside a bipartisan group of her colleagues, said Michigan is one of just four states still requiring all 17-year-olds to be prosecuted as adults – even those who commit the most minor offenses. She said eliminating this harmful and ineffective practice will help rehabilitate young offenders and reduce the likelihood of them breaking the law again in the future.

“Putting high school juniors and seniors who commit non-violent offenses into prisons alongside hardened adult criminals is harmful and ineffective,” said Rendon, of Lake City. “We will rehabilitate more troubled teens and save taxpayer dollars by allowing 17-year-olds to be included in the juvenile justice system, where their families are involved and they have access to important educational tools.”

Including 17-year-olds in the juvenile system has been shown to reduce reoffending by 34 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The plan backed by Rendon would raise the age at which individuals are considered adults for the purposes of prosecuting and adjudicating criminal offenses, allowing 17-year-olds to be treated as minors in most circumstances beginning Oct. 1, 2021. Prosecutors will continue to have discretion, allowing them to waive minors who commit violent crimes into the adult system when appropriate.

The measure also includes a funding plan to ensure local communities do not incur any additional costs associated with keeping 17-year-old offenders in the juvenile system, which is administered at the local level.

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