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Lawmakers advance juvenile justice reform legislation

Lawmakers Wednesday advanced a bill aimed at overhauling Nebraska’s juvenile justice system.

LB561, introduced by Senator Brad Ashford of Omaha, would transfer responsibility for the state’s roughly 3,000 juvenile offenders from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Office of Probation Administration.

The change is intended to keep juvenile offenders in the home and out of county or state run detention centers, with the exception of serious cases.

The bill would appropriate $10 million a year in state funds for grants to counties that develop programs for juveniles according to criteria laid out in the bill and shift $40 million from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Office of Probation Administration.