Kentucky 2024 2024 Regular Session

Kentucky Senate Bill SB343 Introduced / Bill

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AN ACT relating to restorative justice. 1 
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2 
SECTION 1.   A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 15A IS CREATED TO 3 
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4 
(1) The Department of Juvenile Justice shall establish in each county, or assign to 5 
an existing body the responsibilities of, a local juvenile restorative justice advisory 6 
committee. For counties within the same judicial district, the requirements of this 7 
subsection may be satisfied through a joint committee. 8 
(2) The membership of each committee shall include the following: 9 
(a) The chief district judge; 10 
(b) The county attorney; 11 
(c) An assistant public advocate; 12 
(d) A representative from the Department for Community Based Services; 13 
(e) A representative from the Department of Juvenile Justice; 14 
(f) A representative from a local law enforcement agency; 15 
(g) A representative from each local school district; 16 
(h) Community members reflecting the racial, socioeconomic, and other 17 
diversity of the county; and 18 
(i) A representative from a victims advocacy group. 19 
(3) Each committee shall: 20 
(a) Establish sustainable programs that employ restorative practices to identify 21 
the underlying causes of negative behavior and empower children, families, 22 
and communities to address and prevent issues surrounding incidents of 23 
negative behavior; and 24 
(b) Develop and implement local restorative justice programs with an 25 
established organization to serve children, youth, and families through 26 
referrals from the court, the court-designated worker, the Department of 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS BR 2083 
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Juvenile Justice, the public schools, other social service agencies, or by the 1 
request of a child or family. 2 
(4) Each committee shall meet at least quarterly, and shall report to the Department 3 
of Juvenile Justice Office of Community and Mental Health Services. 4