BOSTON — A bill quietly moving through the Massachusetts Senate — and one Gov. Maura Healey signature away from law if it clears the House — would mean a 20-year-old who deals fentanyl, sticks up a convenience store at gunpoint, or sexually assaults a child gets juvenile court. Sealed record. Out by his 21st birthday.
Department of Youth Services rather than state prison. Out of the system at 21 — for any case that lands in juvenile court.
The bill is S.1061, "An Act to promote public safety and better outcomes for youths," filed by Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) with co-sponsors Cynthia Stone Creem (D-Newton), Liz Miranda (D-Boston), and Joanne Comerford (D-Northampton). The Senate Judiciary Committee voted it favorably out of committee on October 9, 2025. It now sits with Senate Ways and Means, the committee that recently advanced the PROTECT Act — passed Thursday on a 37-3 Senate floor vote — that would let illegal immigrants sue ICE agents.
The House version — H.1923, filed by Rep. James O'Day (D-West Boylston) and Rep. Manny Cruz (D-Salem) — was quietly sent to a study order on March 26, effectively shelving it on that side of the building.
But Senate President Karen Spilka opened the 194th General Court on January 1, 2025 by "once again calling on the Senate and House to pass meaningful legislation to address raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction." Her inaugural framed the change as starting with 18-year-olds; S.1061 goes further, ultimately to 21. The Senate is moving the bill. If the chamber passes it and the House is pressured into taking it up before the session ends July 31, the bill could land on Gov. Maura Healey's desk this year.
What the bill does
Massachusetts currently treats anyone 18 or older as an adult in criminal court. S.1061 changes that. The bill phases the age of juvenile-court jurisdiction up over four years — to 19 on enactment, to 20 on July 1, 2028, and to 21 on July 1, 2030.
It is not a one-line statute. The bill runs 95 sections, amending more than a dozen chapters of the General Laws — from the drug statutes (Ch. 94C) to assault and rape (Ch. 265) to firearms (Ch. 269) to court probation rules (Ch. 276). Every reference to age 18 in those chapters is replaced with the new "age of criminal majority."
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A 19-year-old defendant under the new regime would not be arraigned in District Court. A 20-year-old wouldn't either. They'd be hauled into juvenile court, where the records are sealed, the case is closed to the public, the maximum custodial placement is the Department of Youth Services, and the system is required to release them by their 21st birthday — regardless of the offense.
The bill applies forward only. Anyone already in the adult system stays there.
The carve-outs are narrow
Supporters point to a list of carve-outs. They are narrower than the talking points suggest.
- First- or second-degree murder — supporters say it remains in adult Superior Court under the longstanding youthful-murderer transfer provision in MGL c.119 §74, which the bill does not appear to repeal
- Felonies involving serious bodily injury, firearms violations, or prior DYS commitments — prosecutors may seek a "Youthful Offender" indictment, which lets a judge impose an adult sentence. May, not must.
That second carve-out is the gray zone. An 18-, 19-, or 20-year-old armed robber would default to juvenile court under S.1061 — but a prosecutor could seek a Youthful Offender indictment because the offense involves a firearm. Whether to seek it is the DA's call. Whether to grant it is the judge's. Default flips to juvenile; adult sentencing is preserved as a discretionary option, not the floor.
What slips through
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Outside the carve-outs entirely — squarely defaulting into juvenile court for 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old defendants — sit some of the most serious felonies on the books:
- Statutory rape of a 14- or 15-year-old (no "serious bodily injury" element, no carve-out triggered)
- Possession or distribution of child sexual abuse material
- Indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 without serious bodily injury
- Sex trafficking of a minor where no serious bodily injury is alleged
- Child enticement
- Drug distribution and trafficking without a firearm — including large-quantity fentanyl
- Stalking, kidnapping without a firearm, carjacking without a firearm
- Witness intimidation, breaking and entering, motor vehicle theft, larceny
It also leaves out every single misdemeanor.
For each of these, an 18-, 19-, or 20-year-old defendant under the bill's final phase is — by default — a juvenile.
The politics
Backers, including the Citizens for Juvenile Justice, argue the brain doesn't finish developing until the mid-twenties, that adult records destroy young people's job and housing prospects, and that DYS programming is more rehabilitative than the DOC. Critics — including district attorneys who have testified against prior versions — argue the change strips victims of a public adult-court process and limits prosecutorial discretion at exactly the age range when violent offending peaks.
The current 194th General Court session runs through July 31, 2026. The Senate has the bill in its money committee. The House has buried it. The next move belongs to Spilka — and, if the bill clears both chambers, to the governor whose desk it would land on.
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