Children 10-12 can still be arrested in Colorado after bill gutted

Children between the ages of 10 and 12 will still be subject to arrest in Colorado after a bill seeking to raise the minimum age for criminal prosecution was drastically rewritten in the final 24 hours of the legislative session.

The first version of the bipartisan bill, HB23-1249, would have banned the arrest and prosecution of kids ages 10 through 12 for any crimes other than homicide and instead proposed that a network of multi-disciplinary social services teams handle criminal behavior among that age group.

The rewritten version passed by both the House and Senate on Monday does not raise the minimum age for arrest. Instead, it increases funding for the social services teams and requires the collection of data to assess the efficacy of services children are receiving under the…