A bill expanding the option of a public defender to children at effectively any and all juvenile court proceedings is headed to the Utah House after a unanimous vote of support by the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
Sponsor Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said current law has allowed inconsistency throughout the state, leaving children as young as 8 years old to argue on their own behalf in criminal matters.
“This bill would assume that a child is indigent and would offer a public defender until someone declined it or had another attorney there,” Weiler said.