When your minor child gets into legal trouble in California, they go to a special kind of court called “juvenile delinquency court.” Juvenile delinquency court has a different jurisdiction than adult court and has its own procedures and terminology.
In this article, our California Juvenile Criminal Defense Attorneys outline the California juvenile court process from beginning to end.
Arrest or citation
The California juvenile court process usually begins with an arrest. In some cases, police may instead give your child a citation to appear in court at a later date and allow them to go home in the meantime.
If the incident is not serious, police may give your child a stern warning and let them go.
Remember, your child has rights! Read our article Police Questioning of Minors for a discussion of what rights your child has when it comes to being interrogated by the police.
Note that in Los Angeles County, prosecutors aim to divert youth to programs that can help them rather than punish them. Prosecution in juvenile court is a last resort.1
Booking (and possibly release)
If police arrest your child and take them to juvenile hall, it is not the end of the world. It may turn out your child does not end up staying there very long.
Probation officers who run juvenile halls have choices just like police. The intake officer will interview your child and do one of the following:
- send your child home with a citation to come back to court at a later date,
- send your child home with a probation program that does not require coming back to court (unless your child disobeys), or
- decide to keep your child in juvenile hall until a judge can look at the case.
Petition
If the District Attorney’s Office decides to pursue the case against your child, it will file a petition in the juvenile court.
If your child allegedly committed a misdemeanor or a felony, the D.A. would file a 602 petition charging your child as “delinquent.”
If your child’s offense was illegal only due to their age (such as skipping school or being a runaway), the D.A. would file a 601 petition charging your child as a “status offender.”
Juvenile Court has jurisdiction over minor offenders under 18 years old.
Detention hearing
Similar to an arraignment in adult court, the detention hearing in juvenile court is usually the first time your child appears before a judge. Your child is informed of their charges, and they can enter an initial plea.
The detention hearing is also where the judge decides whether to:
- release your child pending the outcome of the case or
- detain them during the case.
There is no bail in juvenile court. Though if the judge releases your child to you, they can attach conditions enforced by the Juvenile Probation Department such as:
- electronic monitoring,
- curfews, and
- drug testing.
Note that if you do not hire private counsel for your child, they will be appointed a deputy public defender to represent them.
Transfer hearing
In serious cases, the District Attorney can request a transfer hearing (also called “fitness hearing”). This is where the juvenile court judge determines whether your child’s case should be transferred to adult criminal court.
Transfer hearings can happen only if:
- Your child is 16 years or older and is alleged to have committed any felony or a crime listed in W&I Code 707(b); OR
- Your child was 14 or 15 when they allegedly committed an offense specified in W&I Code 707(b) AND your child was not arrested until they were 18.2
Pretrial motions and hearings
The “pretrial” phase of a juvenile court case is a time for the District Attorney and your child’s attorney to:
- exchange evidence (called “discovery”),
- file motions, such as motions to dismiss charges or motions to suppress evidence, and
- negotiate a disposition (the juvenile court equivalent of plea bargaining).
Similar to adult cases, most juvenile cases resolve without a trial. In many cases, the minor admits guilt to a lesser offense and is granted probation.
Adjudication hearing
Juvenile cases that do not resolve proceed to an adjudication hearing. This is similar to a trial except there is no jury. The D.A. has the burden to prove your child’s delinquency beyond a reasonable doubt.
The adjudication hearing is the opportunity for your child’s attorney to:
- present evidence and legal arguments,
- examine witnesses, and
- cross-examine state witnesses.
Your child has the right not to testify.
Afterwards, the juvenile court judge renders a decision to either:
- sustain the D.A.’s petition (the juvenile equivalent of guilty), or
- deny the D.A.’s petition (the juvenile equivalent of not guilty)
Disposition hearing
If at the adjudication hearing the judge sustains your child’s petition, the court then holds a disposition hearing to sentence your child for their delinquency.
Because the aim of the juvenile delinquency system is to rehabilitate children, the judge will try to come up with a sentence that will achieve that goal. When making a decision, judges refer to your child’s probation report.
In the best case, the judge will send your child home with probation conditions. Sometimes this will be informal diversion per Welfare & Institutions Code 654. Your child does not become a “ward of the court,” and the petition generally gets dismissed upon successful completion of the probation program.
Probation conditions include things like:
- going to school,
- keeping a curfew,
- attending counseling,
- doing community service,
- making restitution to the victim, and
- attending review hearings, where the court checks how your child is doing.
In more serious cases, the minor might get sent to a probation camp, a living facility that the judge finds more “suitable” than the minor’s home, or even a juvenile hall.
Most juvenile cases resolve through probation and not detention.
Additional resources
You can find help and guidance at the following:
- Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice – A nonprofit with the mission of reducing society’s reliance on incarceration as a solution to social problems.
- Ella Baker Center Books Not Bars Campaign – An organization that works to shift resources from punishment and towards rehabilitation.
- Youth Law Center – Advocates working to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems.
- Juvenile Law Center – Nonprofit, public interest law firm working to lessen the harm of the child welfare and justice systems.