More Special Reports

• Albuquerque metro area saw 54 homicides in 2007
• Albuquerque by the numbers
• The Homicides of 2006

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Among the components of Missouri's successful juvenile justice program that have interested New Mexico officials most is its sentencing structure.

Called "dual jurisdiction," the sentence allows a defendant under age 17 who meets certain criteria to be sentenced as both a juvenile and an adult, with the adult portion suspended.

When the client reaches 17, a hearing is held to determine whether the adult sentence will be imposed and the client moved to an adult prison at age 18. The decision is based on the how well the client has been rehabilitated.

Such sentencing provides an incentive for clients to improve themselves - and provides a safety measure to keep behind bars those clients who are not yet rehabilitated by the time the juvenile sentence has ended.

"The states who have this in place have seen major decreases in recidivism," said Keith Smith, state Children, Youth and Families Department milieu director and acting deputy director of juvenile facilities.

A similar method called "indeterminate sentencing" allows a judge to mete out a range of time a client will have to serve before release. The system encourages clients to take responsibility for their rehabilitation and behavior in custody because that directly affects how early the client will be released.

"It gives the message to kids, `You're here to use your time wisely so you can get out,' " former CYFD Secretary Mary-Dale Bolson said. "Kids with adult sentences feel like they are there forever, so what is the use in working toward rehabilitation?"

Currently, no efforts to implement either sentencing structure are under way in New Mexico, Bolson said.