Did you know that only seven states prosecute seventeen-year-olds as adults? Did you know that Texas is one of those states? It’s true. In Texas, a seventeen-year-old who gets charged with a crime can be prosecuted as an adult and sent to serve their sentence along with the adult population in the county jail. That could change soon, though, if two recently introduced bills pass. The bills would change the age of adulthood in Texas to eighteen, which is also the federally recognized age of adulthood, as set by a series of decisions by the United States Supreme Court.

Changing the age of adulthood to eighteen could impact a lot of lives. For example, over twenty thousand individuals who would have been considered juveniles got prosecuted as adults in Texas in 2015. Raising the age of adulthood would result in an increase in juvenile arrests that matches the decrease in adult arrests, which would in turn place a greater demand on the juvenile justice system while reducing the number of individuals in the adult prison system. Proponents of the bills say that the overall effect over time could be a reduction in the demand on both the juvenile justice system and the adult prison system due to the participation of juvenile offenders in rehabilitation programs which would reduce the likelihood that the will commit additional offenses as juveniles and as adults. If the bills pass, there would also be an immediate effect of relief on county jails throughout the state, because under current law seventeen-year-old inmates are not permitted to be housed with the general inmate population. The current situation puts a strain on available space, human resources, and financial resources, where changing the age of adulthood would provide those resources for seventeen-year-old offenders through the state’s juvenile facilities.

The types of offenses that most seventeen-year-olds get arrested for in Texas are nonviolent crimes like possession of marijuana and misdemeanor theft. When juveniles who commit these offenses engage in rehabilitation programs that are made available to them through the juvenile justice system, they often become healthier and more successful overall, and more likely to avoid future offenses

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Working Hard to Protect the Rights of Texas Defendants

A change in the age of adulthood could result in a change in the way that your case gets handled if you are seventeen years old when you get arrested. Whatever your age, know that you do not have to navigate the juvenile justice system or the adult criminal justice system alone. If you have been arrested, it is likely that you have many questions and concerns. An experienced Texas criminal defense attorney can help you protect your rights and understand the processes and procedures that apply to your case. To learn more, please call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499. Alternatively, you may contact us online through our convenient online contact form.

With any crime, the consequences that an individual may face if they are convicted can be far-reaching and can affect numerous areas of their life. One category of offenses that can dramatically affect a person’s career is sex offenses, especially if the individual has a job that involves working with children.

Some examples of situations in which prosecutions for sex offenses have affected careers are the cases involving inappropriate relationships between teachers and students. This category of cases is becoming more and more common in Texas, where some of the incidents that have occurred have made it to national news headlines.

There has been such a dramatic rise in allegations of inappropriate teacher-student relationships over the past few years that the Governor has called for new legislation to be passed sometime this year. Between 2013 and 2016, the number of prosecutions for inappropriate relationships between teachers and students increased by sixty percent.

Not all cases involving inappropriate relationships between teachers and students make the news, but one recent case has been receiving a large amount of national attention. In 2016, a former teacher was having a relationship with a thirteen-year-old student, and she became pregnant. The woman was charged with continuous sexual assault of a child; however, she reached a plea bargain by admitting to having committed the crime of aggravated sexual assault on a child. She could be sentenced to prison for up to thirty years for that lesser offense. If she had been convicted of continuous sexual assault of a child, she could have faced life in prison.

The Texas Education Agency wants lawmakers to pass legislation that will require school districts to revoke the teaching licenses of sex offenders, impose criminal penalties on superintendents who fail to report improper relationships, and compel witnesses to testify. The Agency would also like to receive funds to hire investigators to look into all allegations of inappropriate relationships between teachers and students. Currently, school districts can fire teachers who have had inappropriate relationships with students, but they are not yet able to revoke their licenses. The Agency hopes that stricter rules might encourage teachers to think more carefully before engaging in any conduct that could possibly be inappropriate because they would know that there is a lot at stake.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Helping Texans Fight for their Rights

Unfortunately, although some of the allegations of inappropriate teacher-student relationships have led to the prosecution of educators who have engaged in inappropriate conduct, there have also been some false accusations. Even though the contemplated legislation has not yet been passed, there is a lot at stake for any educator who is accused of having any sort of inappropriate relationship. If you are alleged to have any type of inappropriate relationship with a student, you are likely to have many questions and concerns. An experienced Texas criminal defense attorney can help you protect your rights. To learn more, please call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499. Alternatively, you may contact us online.