Sadly, too many of the 18- to 21-year-old inmates in the state’s Division of Youth Corrections already are hardened and violent criminals. Whatever their prospects for rehabilitation, they are at the very least a bad influence on younger offenders incarcerated in the system and often enough pose an imminent danger to them.

Senate Bill 289, which got the upper chamber’s approval on Monday, would allow the transfer of inmates age 18-21 to the Department of Corrections — the adult system — if they have committed a dangerous, secondary offense while in custody.

A press release from the Senate GOP explains:

DYC inmates can be as young as 10 years old, and older inmates who continue to commit crimes–such as possession of a deadly weapon, a crime of violence, or possession or distribution of a controlled substance–create an unsafe environment for the younger children who work toward a path of rehabilitation.

…DYC reports 188 children under the age of 12 have been placed in detention centers since 2014. Over the same time period 56 serious assaults were committed by individuals in DYC facilities. These bills provide much needed reform to the Division, ending an unsafe culture that can encourage repeat offenses.

The press release quotes SB 289’s sponsor, Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs:

“What we continue to see in DYC is an unsafe environment for staff and for younger detainees in which older inmates between 18 and 21 continue to commit increasingly violent and troubling crimes, but are not transferred to DOC…Providing the option to transfer these adults to the appropriate facility will help staff continue their work to get more of these juveniles on a path to rehabilitation.”