A bill to make running away from home a crime has been pulled
for fundamental changes.
The Colorado House Judiciary Committee tabled the bill at its
sponsor’s request so he can make amendments and bring it back to
the committee later in the legislative session.
Rep. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, will drop a provision in
House Bill 1123 making running away from home a misdemeanor for
teens age 17 and younger.
Instead, he wants to change an existing statute that says law
enforcement may take a juvenile into temporary custody if it’s
believed he or she is a runaway.
The change would update a state statute to say law enforcement
“shall” take a child into custody – instead of “can” – if a missing
children’s report or runaway child report has been filed with
police, Harvey said.
“The whole goal is for the police to be able to get involved in
the process,” he said. “By making it a ‘shall,’ it will hopefully
be enough of a legal mandate that the police will be able to get
involved and help the parents.”
One committee member told Harvey there is a statute that law
enforcement “can” pick up suspected runaways, but that doesn’t
really mean anything, Harvey said, adding changing an existing
statute is an acceptable solution.
Harvey anticipates he would reschedule the bill in front of the
House Judiciary Committee in the next two weeks.
A friend of Harvey’s had a daughter who became involved with
drugs and ran away from home, he said. She was living with crack
addicts. Her father asked police to arrest her but they
couldn’t.
Harvey anticipated objections to criminalizing running away from
home when he wrote and introduced HB 1123, but his ultimate goal is
to come up with a way for police to get engaged with the
problem.
“I did not know of another option or of the existing statute,”
he said. “It’s a fine alternative if lawmakers make it mandatory
for law enforcement to take temporary custody of runaways.”