Lawmakers Approve Legislation to Try 17-Year-Olds as Juveniles

State lawmakers approved a bill that would consider 17-year-olds juveniles in court.

Both the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives supported the legislation that would provide that 17-year-olds who’ve committed a crime will no longer be tried as an adult, according to a State House News service tweet Tuesday.

Massachusetts is one of 11 states in which 17-year-olds are automatically tried as adults, according to a press statement from Middlesex County Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian, who advocated for the change.

His statement says youth prosecuted as adults are 34 percent more likely to reoffend than those placed in the juvenile justice system, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Seventeen-year-olds would still be tried as adults for a charge of murder, according to the legislation, which now must be signed by Gov. Deval Patrick to become law.