What happens after a juvenile is arrested?
The first hours and days, and the decisions made at each step.
Read the answerFor parents · California first · NationwideJuvenile Criminal
Juvenile Criminal
Defense Lawyer
When Your Child’s Future Is at Stake, Everything Matters.
A juvenile defense attorney defends a young person accused of a crime. An accusation against a minor can reach past the courtroom: freedom, school, reputation and a record that can follow a young person into adulthood. This site explains how juvenile cases work, state by state, and gives parents a way to ask our attorney about their child’s case.
- Plain answers for parents
- California covered in the most depth
- Rules vary by state: start with yours
Protect
their future.
Juvenile Justice Defense Group
For parents
What Happened? Start Here.
When your child is facing an investigation, arrest, detention or a juvenile charge, the first questions are usually immediate: What happens next? Can my child come home? Should they speak with police? Could the case move to adult court? Whether you need a lawyer for a juvenile arrest or a lawyer for a child facing criminal charges, start with what has happened.
Choose the situation closest to what is happening now.
My child was arrested
What may happen after a juvenile arrest, and what parents should know about the next steps.
My child is being detained
Juvenile detention, detention hearings, release, and what may happen next.
Police want to question my child
What to consider when police or investigators want to question a minor.
My child was accused at school
Charges involving school fights, threats, weapons, drugs and other school-related allegations.
My child is facing a serious charge
How serious felony, weapons, robbery, sex-offense and violent allegations can affect a juvenile case.
My child may be tried as an adult
Transfer to adult court, transfer hearings, and what adult-court prosecution can mean.
Not Sure Where to Start?
If your child has been arrested, detained, questioned or accused of a serious offense, describe the situation and ask about the next steps. A juvenile lawyer starts from the same facts: what happened, where your child is now and what the court has scheduled.
What this site covers
Written for parents
Plain explanations of each stage of a juvenile case, from arrest to record sealing, the work of a juvenile expungement lawyer.
Serious charges
Weapons, sex-offense and violent-felony allegations against minors, adult-court transfer, and the role of a lawyer for juvenile criminal charges.
California first
California's juvenile court, topic by topic and county by county.
State by state
Juvenile law differs by state; state pages rely on that state's own official sources.
Act early
Your Child Has Been Accused. What Happens Next Matters.
Juvenile cases can move quickly, and decisions made early can shape the options that remain later. Whether you look for a juvenile criminal lawyer, a juvenile justice attorney or a criminal lawyer for minors, the earlier one is involved, the more of those decisions are still ahead.
Early decisions can affect
- Whether your child is detained or released
- What happens during police questioning
- How the first court hearings unfold
- The disposition the court ultimately orders
- Probation terms and how long they last
- School discipline running in parallel
- Whether a record can later be sealed
- In serious cases, exposure to adult criminal court
Common charges
All juvenile crimesJuvenile Charges Parents Ask About
Each charge raises its own questions, and a juvenile crime lawyer starts with the charge itself. Because juvenile law is state law, an attorney for juvenile charges reads the same charge differently from one state to the next.
Juvenile Assault & Battery
School incidents, fights and use-of-force allegations.
Learn moreJuvenile Robbery
Allegations that can carry felony exposure.
Learn moreJuvenile Gun & Weapons Charges
Possession and carrying cases, including adult-court questions.
Learn moreJuvenile Sex Crimes
Sensitive allegations with lasting record consequences.
Learn moreJuvenile Drug Charges
Possession, sales allegations and diversion questions.
Learn moreJuvenile Theft & Burglary
Property allegations from shoplifting through burglary.
Learn moreJuvenile School Threats
Statements and online posts treated as criminal threats.
Learn moreSerious Juvenile Felonies
The most severe allegations a minor can face.
Learn moreTried as an Adult
When the prosecution seeks to move a case out of juvenile court.
Learn more
How it unfolds
The Juvenile Court Process
Not every case follows every stage, and a case can end at any point. Courts usually call these delinquency cases, so a juvenile court lawyer is also known as a juvenile delinquency attorney.
- 01
Investigation
- 02
Arrest
- 03
Detention
- 04
Petition
- 05
Court Hearings
- 06
Disposition
- 07
Probation / Placement
- 08
Record Sealing
Highest stakes
Could Your Child Be Tried as an Adult?
In serious juvenile cases, the prosecution may raise transfer to adult criminal court. Whether that is possible, and how it is decided, depends on the state and on the circumstances of the case. Once a case is transferred, a criminal defense lawyer for juveniles is working under adult-court rules.
Primary jurisdiction
California Juvenile Defense Attorney
California is covered in the most depth on this site: juvenile laws, court process, detention, transfer to adult court, probation, diversion and record sealing, with county pages as they are published.
Explore California Juvenile Defense- Juvenile laws
- Court process
- Detention
- Transfer
- Probation
- Diversion
- Record sealing
- County pages
Questions parents ask a juvenile defense lawyer
Answers for Parents
Can police question a minor without a parent present?
How the rules on questioning a minor differ by state, age and custody.
Read the answerCan my child be released from juvenile detention?
Detention, the detention hearing, and what a court weighs.
Read the answerCan juvenile charges be dismissed?
Dismissal, diversion and the other ways a case can end early.
Read the answerCan a juvenile be tried as an adult?
Transfer to adult court, and how it differs from state to state.
Read the answerWill a juvenile case create a permanent record?
Juvenile records, sealing, and what state law decides.
Read the answerQuestions About Your Child’s Case?
Whether you need an attorney for a minor charged with a crime or want to understand a notice from the court, describe what happened and where the case stands. Nothing is decided by sending a request.