PROVIDENCE — The General Assembly next week will reconsider a controversial law that requires 17-year-olds to be tried as adults in criminal matters, a change of heart that follows three months of intense lobbying by a host of groups that blasted the law as bad public policy and not cost effective.

The leadership in both chambers have agreed in principle to “basically repeal” the law during next week’s one-day special session, according to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steven Alves, D-West Warwick.

“It was a terrible proposal. There’s no other way to describe it,” he said of the provision, which was introduced as a cost-cutting measure in the state budget by the governor and approved by the General Assembly in June.

Since the law took effect July 1, more than thirty-six 17-year-olds have spent at least one night in the state prison, accused of crimes that previously might have resulted in a locked stay at the Training School. Those youths have adult criminal records now instead of a juvenile record that would have been sealed by the Family Court.

The governor’s office initially said that trying 17-year-olds as adults would save $3.6 million because the average cost of housing inmates at the state prison is cheaper than the Training School. But in the days immediately after the measure became law, the head of the state prison system cast doubt on those savings.

Department of Corrections Director A.T. Wall said that 17-year-old inmates would be held at the high-security unit — known as “Super Max” — for their protection at an average cost of more than $100,000 a year. Wall told a Senate panel investigating the issue last month that the governor’s office did not consult him before the proposal was introduced.

Wall said he didn’t speak up in the subsequent months of Assembly debate because he didn’t think legislators would take the proposal seriously. “Frankly, I didn’t see it coming,” Wall said last month.

Alves yesterday said that the proposal to repeal the budget article would be retroactive, meaning that anyone charged under the new law since July 1 would be referred back to the Family Court and their records would be sealed.

Advocates have held several passionate rallies in recent months — most recently on Monday — calling on legislators to reverse the law. Critics have included pastors, parents, social advocacy groups, the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, Family Court judges and even the state attorney general.

“This is wonderful news and a victory for all who care about having a sane and enlightened juvenile justice policy for our state,” ACLU executive director Steven Brown said. “The legislature deserves credit for its willingness to reconsider and rectify what it did in June.”

House leaders Tuesday will introduce a modified version of a Senate bill that died in the final hours of the legislative session. The proposal, which passed the Senate but not the House, directs 17-year-old offenders back to the Family Court.

While the Senate fiscal office could not provide the cost of the alternate proposal, Alves said it would save $200,000 to $300,000 less than the governor’s projected savings by diverting some young offenders to alternative programs. Those accused of drug-related crimes, for example, may be sent to treatment facilities instead of the Training School.

The House Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing on the bill for Tuesday at 3 p.m., an hour before lawmakers in both chambers will convene for a one-day special session intended primarily to override the governor’s vetoes.

The House leadership acknowledged the new law would be based on the Senate bill, but would not say what changes may be made, House spokesman Larry Berman said.

The governor’s office, notified of the Assembly’s plans yesterday, would not say whether it would veto the new proposal.

“This is the first the governor has heard about the possibility that the General Assembly might address this issue at Tuesday’s special session,” Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said yesterday. “As a result, it is premature for me to comment on what the governor’s position will be.”

Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count, said she was thrilled to hear that lawmakers planned to reconsider the bill.

“It’s great that the legislative leadership has heard concerns about this issue during the past few months and are taking action,” she said. “It’s evidence of a concern about the welfare of young people in the state of Rhode Island.”

speoples@projo.com