An Act promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services

SD 246 promotes diversion of juveniles from formal court processing to community supervision and services by removing barriers that previously disqualified young people from diversion programs. The bill ensures that a referral to juvenile court for a child needing assistance does not disqualify them from diversion and clarifies that diverted cases do not count as criminal complaints for certain legal purposes. It also prevents law enforcement from sending fingerprints and arrest records of juveniles (for offenses committed before age 18) to federal agencies like the FBI, except when records are being sealed. These changes aim to reduce long-term negative impacts of juvenile justice involvement by expanding access to community-based alternatives.