Staff Analysis of the Legislation
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HB 263 amends Chapter 6A of Title 35, Chapter 11 of Title 15, and Title 49 of the O.C.G.A which is related to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the Juvenile Code, and social services. HB 263 will provide for
an advisory board to the council for juvenile justice issues, along with providing for the membership of the board. The board will consist of at least 15 but no more than 33 members appointed by the Governor. The proposed legislation will also create the duties of the advisory board which will include the following; 1) Cooperation with every department and agency contained within the state government to attend to
matters of Criminal Justice Coordinating Council business; 2) To prepare and publish (in print or electronically) fundamental criminal justice information to all components of the criminal justice system of the State of Georgia, including law enforcement agencies, the courts, juvenile justice agencies, and correctional agencies; 3) To serve as the
state-wide clearing-house for criminal justice information and research; 4) To maintain a research program aimed at identifying and defining significant criminal justice problems, issues, and effective solutions and to publish (electronically or in print) special reports on
said information as needed. 5) To develop criminal justice legislative proposals and executive policy proposals reflective of the priorities of
the entire criminal justice system of this state in coordination and cooperation with all components of the criminal justice system of this state; 6) To coordinate high visibility criminal justice research projects and studies with a state-wide impact, which studies and projects cross traditional system component lines; 7) To convene periodically state-wide criminal justice conferences involving key executives in the criminal justice system of this state and elected officials for the purpose of developing, prioritizing, and publicizing a
policy agenda for the criminal justice system of this state; 8) To provide for the interaction, communication, and coordination of all components of the criminal justice system of this state for the purpose of improving this state's response to crime and its effects; 9) To administer gifts, grants, and donations for the purpose of carrying out this chapter; 10) To promulgate rules governing the approval of victim assistance programs as provided for in Article 8 of Chapter 21 of Title 15; and 11) To supervise the preparation, administration, and implementation of the three-year juvenile justice plan as provided by this chapter. In addition, HB 263 stipulates which entities and agencies
in the state will be required to share information with the Council, and allows it access to data relating to juveniles. HB 263 also amends Article 2 of Chapter 13 of Title 19 of the O.C.G.A relating to family violence shelters, so as to transfer the responsibility and duties for the shelters from the Department of Human Resources to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. |
