If you or your loved one is under the age of 18 and arrested or facing a criminal case, what happens now? Unlike an adult, juveniles are handled differently when arrested for committing a criminal offense.
First, its not even called a criminal offense, it’s called an allegation of juvenile delinquency. Almost all crimes that an adult would commit, when committed by a juvenile, will end up being handled in juvenile court. There is an exception when the offender is 16 or older and charged with murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery while armed with a deadly weapon and a few other limited circumstances. Additionally, the prosecutor can seek to waive a juvenile to adult court when they commit specifically egregious crimes and they can not be rehabilitated in juvenile court.
So, how does it work? For most minor offenses the juvenile will be contacted by the local probation department and asked to come in for an intake meeting where they can make an assessment of the juvenile and his/her family and make recommendations on the next steps to the prosecutor. These recommendations can include not filing charges, doing an informal adjustment or moving forward with charges. If they recommend no further action then the case is normally closed at that time, this will happen sometimes when the probation officer feels that parents are taking appropriate steps to deal with the issue and involving the court is not necessary.
If they recommend an informal adjustment, then there is an agreement where things such as treatment and/or community service must be completed and the juvenile must stay out of trouble for a fixed period of time and if they do so the case is dismissed. The last possible option is charges/allegations are filed, we will discuss that in detail below.
In more serious cases the prosecutor can ask for a juvenile pick up order. This is the equivalent of an arrest warrant for an adult. In these situations the police will pick the juvenile up and take them into custody and put them in juvenile detention. When this happens there will normally be a hearing within 48 business hours to address whether the juvenile must stay in detention or can be released back to their parents or guardians. This is called a detention hearing. In these hearings the court is supposed to use the least restrictive means possible with the juvenile. In many cases the juveniles are released back to their parents with conditions. In some instances, especially when the juvenile has been in repeated trouble, the court will order them to remain in juvenile detention for the pendency of the case.
For all cases where charges are filed, including those that were referred through the probation intake process above, the next step will be the initial hearing. At that hearing the judge will go over the allegations, the possible penalties and future court dates. The range of penalties for a juvenile include juvenile DOC(rarely used), juvenile detention, shelter care, home detention, parent enforced home detention and probation. For most offenders, probation is many times the outcome.
The court will set what is called a fact finding hearing. Unlike adult court, juveniles do not have the right to a jury trial. The right they do have is a fact finding hearing which is in essence a court trial where the state still must prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. Whether there is a finding of committing the allegations by the judge or if the juvenile decides to admit to the allegations, the court, probation, prosecutor, defense attorney and parents will all be a part of deciding the appropriate sanction. The goal in juvenile court is rehabilitation not punishment. Therefore services like substance abuse counseling, mental health treatment, or other behavioral services are many times required.
If you or your loved one is facing a criminal allegation in juvenile court contact the experienced attorneys at Banks & Brower 24/7 at 317-870-0019.
