In an unincorporated section of Fort Bend County, just north of Sugar Land, minors now face a curfew - a tool that some criminal justice reform advocates say harms youth rather than helps address underlying problems.

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Only 12 US states are in full compliance with an prison anti-rape rule intended to keep juvenile offenders from adults.

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A coalition of 21 advocacy groups wants Dallas trustees to ban suspension of students in pre-K through second grade, according to a letter sent to the board Wednesday.

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Expanding reentry education, job training and treatment alternatives to incarceration were announced Wednesday as the upcoming legislative priorities for the Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition.

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A part of Amelia Rondon almost did not want to attend her son’s detention hearing, held three days before Christmas.

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Officials at the state youth prison agency are investigating a suspected serial sexual predator among corrections officers at a juvenile lockup in Gainesville.

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The Harris County Juvenile Detention Center has kicked into "emergency staffing" mode given that the 250-capacity detention center was housing 295 kids as of September 22.

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Policy Background:

Currently, youth who are 17 and under cannot be sentenced to life without parole for capital felony offenses. Instead, such youth in Texas are subject to life sentences with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

This mandatory minimum sentence length, in addition to the lack of consideration of mitigating factors during sentencing, prohibits Texas from giving a meaningful opportunity for review to those youth who demonstrate that they have been rehabilitated.

Policy Background:

In Texas, 17-year-olds who commit a crime are considered adults and enter the adult criminal justice system. Texas is one of only 7 remaining states that charge 17-year-olds as adults, regardless of the offense or the teen’s personal experiences – making us out of line with best practices.

In Texas, you have to be 21 to apply for a concealed handgun permit, and, in many cities, 18 to buy an e-cigarette. In the eyes of the criminal justice system, however, you are considered an adult at age 17, a nearly century-old law juvenile justice advocates and law enforcement increasingly agree is out of step with national norms.

Read the rest of this article at Corrections One.