County Attorney candidates raises concerns about change in delinquency law

Minnesota just changed what it means to be a kid. Or how young Minnesotan children can be and still be charged with a crime that is.
In 2024, the Minnesota legislature passed a new law that raises the age of delinquency from 10 to 13. That change is more than technical, requiring all children 13 or younger who commit a delinquent act or petty offense to be considered a child in need of protection or services rather than a delinquent child that could be charged with a crime.
With the shift, Minnesota becomes the third state with a minimum delinquency age of 13.
Proponents of the bill, including the sponsor of the original bill Rep. Dave Pinto of St. Paul, say it will provide children with services that are more effective at helping youth instead of the current juvenile delinquency system.
Cassandra Patterson, an assistant public defender, who mainly represents clients in Olmsted County, said the law “quite frankly benefits everybody,” because it cuts through much of the bureaucracy that usually ends up dropping the charges for children this young anyway.
Not everyone agrees on how the law will affect children, however.
Both candidates for the Dodge County Attorney cited the change as top of mind for new laws that went into effect on Aug.1.
Assistant County Attorney Kailee Thompson, who is a prosecutor in the office, said the new law would “likely to cause a lot of frustration in schools and with parents.”
Her opponent Crysta Parkin, who represents MnPrairie in child protection cases, and in other civil cases, said she is worried the law would cause “a larger number of youth be referred to child protection for delinquent acts and more petitions filed on this basis.”
“Unfortunately, while the definition of who can be charged for a delinquent act has changed, the reasons child protection can screen in a report for services has not changed,” she said.
Patricia Harrelson, program manager of Child & Family Social Services at MNPrairie County Alliance, wrote in a statement to the DCI that she did expect a “slight increase” in the number of referrals to child protective services, but that overall, “The number of youths in this age group who commit delinquent acts within our service area is relatively small.”
The Process
Even before the change in law, delinquency cases for juveniles ages 10-13 are rare. Thompson estimates that in Dodge County, fewer than 10 cases occur annually.
The vast majority of these cases, according to Patterson, are disorderly conduct or assault.
“They’re school fights,” said Patterson about the charges. The next most common is misdemeanor shoplifting.
Triton Superintendent Luke Lutterman agreed with the assessment from the attorneys.
“In my experience, it is uncommon, and if it did happen, it would most likely revolve around a fight or some type of vandalism,” he said.
When delinquency cases do occur, in order for a juvenile to stand trial, they must be found competent which requires a test called a 20.01 evaluation. These tests can cost thousands of dollars and generally take a few months to complete. Children must answer questions including the role of the judge, prosecutors, and what a plea deal is and why someone might take it.
“Those are all things a child has to understand for the case to move forward,” said Patterson.
This rarely happens.
“Most cases don’t even have to do the 20.01 because they agree it would be a waste of time,” said Patterson.
If the child is found incompetent from the 20.01 evaluation and faces misdemeanor charges, the charges are simply dropped.
“Essentially we spend a lot of money to get to no charges at all,” said Patterson.
In Dodge County, Thompson said the approach has been to use restorative justice methods, including through Three Rivers, a nonprofit with the goal “to work with community partners to address basic human needs of people in our service area, thereby improving the quality of life of the individual, family and community.”
“10-11 year old kids, we pretty much never send to court, and instead try to use restorative justice methods,” she said.
Thompson said Three Rivers referrals has become a norm for all children 10-13 years old, when it comes to first first offenses.
But with the new law, she said the issue is that it makes optional restorative practices the only option for children under 12.
“While we typically do not seek to adjudicate children at a young age as delinquent, it allowed for mandatory diversion or restorative justice before rising to the level of a court proceeding. Now, those services would be considered voluntary,” she said.
Not all cases against juveniles are brought this way, however. In the case of felony charges for a juvenile, charges wouldn’t simply be dropped, but the case could not move forward until the child is found competent. These types of crimes and charges are rare.
Implementation
Two years later, the bill came into effect on Aug. 1, raising concerns of how these changes will affect law enforcement, youth, and the services meant to help them.
Thompson worries that the change — while keeping children out of the criminal justice system — also keeps them from the diversion programs with the courts.
“Since diversion is a process of the court, they cannot really participate in diversion. Three Rivers is an option, but if the child chooses not to complete the program or even participate, then there is very little we can do,” wrote Thompson.
Patterson believes that the benefits of keeping children out of the justice system outweigh potential access to these programs, which often aren’t used for this age group anyway. Courts “Typically aren’t providing the kid or parents with services because of how low-level the offenses are,” said Patterson.
“The process can be really predatory,” said Patterson about working with children in the legal system. Children often don’t understand what rights they have, what it means to waive them, or why someone might not want to. “You pretty much always get confessions in those cases where you wouldn’t otherwise,” said Patterson.
For Thompson, mandatory access to diversion programs matters.
“The goal is to curb behavior early enough so that by the time they do reach an age that they can be prosecuted, they are no longer participating in that behavior, but ultimately it will rest on the parents.”