AG NIXON CALLS FOR `GET TOUGH' REFORMS

If Attorney General Jay Nixon's proposed changes in state juvenile laws are passed, violent juveniles could receive adult sentences, including the death penalty.

At a news conference in Jefferson City, earlier Tuesday, Nixon said juveniles committing adult crimes should receive adult penalties, even if it means giving the death penalty to someone as young as 13.

Nixon was scheduled to be in Cape Girardeau Tuesday to present his proposals at a news conference, but bad weather kept him in St. Louis.

He is calling his juvenile law reform "Get Tough," and he wants to make it a priority of the 1995 legislative session.

Nixon conducted telephone interviews with media affected by the conference cancellation.

"The last basic revision of Missouri's juvenile law was in 1957, when I was one year old," he said. "The laws just don't reflect the realities of violence today."

Missouri ranks eighth in the country in the number of handgun incidents in schools, and Missouri's violent juvenile crime more than tripled in the past 10 years.

Nixon's plan provides for automatic certification of some violent juveniles as adults, particularly in cases of murder or forcible rape. Certification currently is done on a case-by-case basis.

Other provisions include:

-- Consistent consequences for juvenile offenses. Nixon said a statewide problem of accountability makes it possible for a car thief in Kansas City to go unpunished while one in a rural area might result in detention.

-- Definite terms for dangerous felonies. This would develop length-of-stay guidelines for the Division of Youth Services, including timeliness for follow-up treatment programs.

-- Transfer of juveniles to the adult system. "We should end the magic of the 18th birthday," Nixon said. "It's not a get-out-of-jail-free card."

-- Standardized classification for juvenile offenders at their first contact with the court system. While some jurisdictions have the resources to classify and treat offenders, others don't.

Nixon said uniform assessment is the first step to a system that protects the public while making sure juveniles who can be rehabilitated receive the best treatment.

Local juvenile officer Randy Rhodes, while agreeing that Nixon has some good ideas, said the plan fails to address a basic need in juvenile justice -- more funding. More money for the Division of Youth Services might mean longer detention for juvenile offenders.

"We had some kids do an armed robbery at the university in May, and they are already out," Rhodes said.

He also wasn't certain a violent juvenile should automatically be certified as adults before a judge looks at the offender's prior record. Rhodes agreed, though, that those with adult attitudes need adult sentencing.

An interim committee of the state House is studying Nixon's proposed legislation on juvenile crime, and a bill might be pre-filed next week, the attorney general said. He added that law enforcement agencies from across the state support his ideas.