Senate moves forward on two bills related to status offenders February 24, 2026 Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, speaks Tuesday on Senate Bill 162 on the Senate floor. A high-resolution photo can be found here. FRANKFORT — The Senate on Tuesday moved forward with two measures – Senate Bill 1 62 and Senate Bill 170 – related to student misconduct and ongoing efforts to divert status offenders from the criminal justice system. Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, said SB 162 addresses Family Accountability, Intervention and Response (FAIR) teams, which have been part of Kentucky’s efforts to assist juvenile offenders via diversion efforts – especially students who are habitually truant or engage in uncontrollable behavior at school. The FAIR teams model was adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2014 with the goal of bringing together representatives from the legal system, schools officials and others to help keep juvenile offenders on track and out of court. West said the effort was well-intentioned and earned a lot of buy-in from stakeholders at the time. “Fast forward to today, it has become clear that it is time for the FAIR teams part of the law to leave, to exit. It’s not working. The system is not currently working as intended,” he said. West said the main issues with FAIR teams seem to be the length of time that the process takes and getting all the interested parties scheduled at the same time. He said juveniles are also waiting long periods of time to receive needed services. “While they’re waiting for these services, they are back in school,” he said. “So, when they’re back in school, they’re causing the same types of problems for which they’re in diversion or they’re in front of the FAIR teams.” Under the proposed changes, complaints filed against students who are beyond school control must be referred to the court-designated worker and to the county attorney for an initial decision about whether the youth will be referred for court action or remain with the court-designated worker (CDW) for diversion. West said the bill ensures that any diversion agreement with the CDW includes a provision that the student attends school regularly and refrains from conduct that would lead to suspension or expulsion. If the student is suspended or expelled, the CDW would consult with the county attorney, and if the county attorney determines that the child had adequate opportunity to engage in services, the youth will be considered to have failed diversion, he said. West told other legislators that the juvenile justice process is complex and complicated with layers upon layers and different steps along the way. “This bill simply removes one small part of that process before you get to the county attorney – the FAIR teams part of the process. There’s still a CDW there to handle the process, and they do have some wiggle room, some ability to maybe work with what otherwise would have been FAIR teams and try to consider those things. But it expedites the process and moves the cases along,” he said. West said the most important thing the measure seeks concerning students who are beyond school control is to keep them out of the school setting. “And so, it’s safer for students, and it’s safer for teachers in the school building,” he said. SB 162 received Senate approval with a 30-7 vote. SB 170 is sponsored by Sen. Brandon J. Storm, R-London, who said “the bill is grounded in one simple belief: That when a child struggles with attendance, the answer is early intervention and family engagement.” The bill would establish the SOAR (Supporting Opportunities for Accountability and Restoration) Truancy Prevention pilot program in 10 school districts. It would also strengthen diversion by making it a family diversion agreement, not just an agreement with the student. Also, the state Department of Education would be required to report data annually so the general assembly can evaluate if court involvement improves attendance, Storm said. Other provisions of the bill would prohibit the secure detention of children under the age of 14 for status offenses. For children 14 and older, detention would be limited to seven days unless a judge makes written findings that continued detention is needed for public safety, Storm said. “Let me be clear: The court retains authority and discretion to place a child in out-of-home setting when needed,” he said. Storm recognized House Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, for working closely with him on the legislation and said the bill reflects a shared commitment across the chambers to improve early intervention and family engagement to address truancy and status offenses. Sen. Keturah J. Herron, D-Louisville, said she’s a former court-designated worker and court-designated specialist who worked in the juvenile justice system for years. She said FAIR teams worked well. She said the juvenile justice system doesn’t always have the support it needs and the general assembly should keep finances at the forefront to keep programs going – this includes prevention and intervention. “If it doesn’t have a financial tag, I think we need to reconsider what we’re doing,” she said. SB 170 was unanimously advanced by the Senate. The post Senate moves forward on two bills related to status offenders appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less