A law ensuring that Tennessee’s worst juvenile offenders do not walk free upon becoming adults is awaiting the signature of Gov. Bill Lee (R).
HB 043o, passed at the end of the most recent legislative session, “allows a juvenile court to impose a blended sentence on a child 16 years of age or older for a juvenile offense that would be a Class A, B, or C felony if committed by an adult.”
The bill defines blended sentencing as “a combination of any disposition otherwise provided for juveniles and a period of adult probation to be served after the child turns 18 years of age and which ends on or before the child’s twenty-fifth birthday.”
Currently, juvenile criminals have their records expunged at age 19, even if they have committed violent felonies. The new bill would allow judges to impose sentences that would last well beyond age 19 but no older than age 25.
The bill’s Senate counterpart, SB 0624, was championed by State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis).
“With blended sentencing, if the defendant commits additional crimes as a young adult, then they go straight to prison. The consequences of Blended Sentencing will be a powerful deterrent to juveniles from participating in criminal activity,” he said when the bill passed. “It will also provide the public much needed safety from these young criminals who are terrorizing Memphis. As I’ve worked to Make Memphis Matter, fellow senators I’ve brought to Memphis have heard about how juvenile crime is plaguing our community.”
Over the past year, Taylor has emerged as a champion of anti-crime legislation as Memphis continues to be plagued by violent crime.
“We are working, currently on a juvenile blended sentencing bill, which will mean that juveniles will have to spend some time in adult prison for certain offenses. We’re looking to have automatic transfers of juveniles,” he said on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy in December 2023. “We’re looking to increase penalties for other crimes. And you know, the General Assembly has kind of given the direction we want our district attorneys to go in an effort to make Tennesseans safe.”
Lee’s office did not return a comment request regarding whether the governor will sign the bill into law.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
