In Re Patterson, Payne & Dyer

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Foth, C.:

This case is here because, since the 1965 act (Laws 1965, ch. 278.) fixing the age of adult responsibility for males at eighteen years, Kansas has utterly failed in its responsibility to the troubled 16 and 17 year old boys it now classifies as juveniles.

The dilemma our state faces in dealing with these young men was pointed out by this court six years ago in State, ex rel., v. Owens, 197 Kan. 212, 416 P. 2d 259, where we first considered the act which extended the juvenile age from 16 to 18. In that case we recognized and approved the…