Law Commons^™

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The most notable development this past year in the area of juvenile delinquency and noncriminal misbehavior was the passage by the Virginia General Assembly of legislation modifying the state's response to status offenses committed by children. Ever since the adoption of the revised juvenile code in 1977 there have been efforts at practically every session of the Assembly to modify the provisions which prohibit the commitment of status offenders to secure institutions, but the efforts were not successful. However, the 1987 bill met with little resistance in the legislature. The 1987 legislation, effective July 1, 1988, does two very significant …