A report released Sunday showing that an increasing number of juveniles sentenced as adults shouldn’t alarm anyone, local experts say.

&uot;It’s no reflection of increased crime, just a change in laws,&uot; said&160;Adams County Youth Court Judge John Hudson. &uot;There’s actually been a decrease in juvenile crime. It peaked in the mid-1990s and has declined ever since.&uot;

On Sunday, the U.S. Justice Department reported the number of juveniles incarcerated in adult prisons doubled in the past decade.

Natchez Police Chief Willie Huff said the results simply illustrate the changes in laws and in our society.

&uot;The legislators were reacting to the current crime situation back then,&uot; Huff said. &uot;At that time we had more violent crimes being committed by juveniles and legislators were trying to reverse it.&uot;

Under Mississippi laws anyone 13 years of age and older is automatically prosecuted as an adult if charged with a crime punishable by death such as capital murder or capital rape.

State law also mandates any person 13 years of age and older who commits a felony with a firearm be prosecuted as an adult.

&uot;There’s no discretion,&uot; Hudson said. &uot;If you commit a certain type of crime, you’re in the adult system.&uot;

Hudson said the Youth Court does, however, always have the right to transfer any case it sees fit up to higher courts but added that transfers have become more infrequent in recent years.

Huff said changes in the laws regarding sentencing juveniles as adults were necessary because of societal changes.

&uot;Our society has changed,&uot; he said. &uot;Our kids are more knowledgeable than they were 20 years ago. They have more freedom. Look at the violence on TV now. It’s much more prevalent now than then, and it all factors in.&uot;

&uot;Kids are different than they were 15 years ago,&uot; Huff said. &uot;And society has gotten a little lax about discipline.&uot;