California juvenile court generally handles cases against children who were 12 through 17 when the alleged offense happened, and younger children only for a short list of very serious offenses. A case usually starts with a petition. It can move through detention, a trial before a judge and a disposition. Only some cases can move to adult court, and records can often be sealed later.

A parent or guardian whose child was picked up by police, is held in juvenile hall, or has a court date on a notice handed out at the station is usually trying to work out which steps come next, who makes each decision, and whether this follows their child into school and adulthood. This page walks through how California's juvenile laws work at each stage, from questioning to record sealing, using the words the statutes themselves use.

Who California Juvenile Court Covers

Welf. & Inst. Code § 602 sets the age line. Except as Welf. & Inst. Code § 707 provides for transfers, a minor "between 12 years of age and 17 years of age, inclusive," who violates a state law, a federal law or a local ordinance defining a crime is within the juvenile court's jurisdiction. Curfew ordinances based only on age are excluded. A child under 12 comes within that jurisdiction only when alleged to have committed one of five offenses the statute lists: murder, or rape, sodomy, oral copulation or sexual penetration committed by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.

A case usually begins with a petition, the court paper that says what the state believes the youth did. The California Courts self-help guide explains that the probation department or the district attorney can file it, and that it "does not mean the youth is guilty."

If the judge finds the petition true, the child can become a ward of the court. That means the child is under the court's ongoing supervision. These are delinquency cases. Dependency cases, where a parent is accused of abuse or neglect, are a separate system this page does not cover. Juvenile court also uses its own vocabulary. A finding that a petition is true is an adjudication, not a conviction, and a disposition is not a sentence. The broader juvenile court process follows the same terms.

Arrest and Detention

When police bring a minor to the probation officer, Welf. & Inst. Code § 628 requires the officer to investigate right away. The officer must then release the minor to a parent, legal guardian or responsible relative. The exception is when staying in the home is contrary to the minor's welfare and at least one condition applies:

  • detention is an immediate and urgent necessity to protect the minor, or reasonably necessary to protect another person or property;
  • the minor is likely to flee; or
  • the minor has violated a juvenile court order.

The Judicial Council's information sheet for parents adds that a child has the right to make at least two phone calls within one hour of arrest. One must be a completed call to a parent, guardian, responsible relative or employer.

Welf. & Inst. Code § 631 sets the outer limit. A detained minor generally must be released within 48 hours, not counting nonjudicial days, unless a petition is filed in that time or a criminal complaint is filed in a court that has jurisdiction. The rule does not apply if the minor willfully claimed to be 18 or older. For a warrantless arrest on a nonviolent misdemeanor of a minor who is not on probation or parole, release is required within 48 hours, excluding nonjudicial days, unless a petition has been filed and a judge or referee has ordered the minor detained. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 632, a detained minor must be brought before a judge or referee for a detention hearing before the end of the next judicial day after the petition is filed. At that hearing, a judge decides whether the child stays in custody. For a warrantless arrest on a nonviolent misdemeanor of a minor who is not on probation or parole, the hearing must be held as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after the minor was taken into custody, excluding nonjudicial days, once a petition has been filed. A minor not brought to court in time must be released.

At the hearing, Welf. & Inst. Code § 635 requires release unless the same kinds of grounds appear, or the minor escaped from a juvenile court commitment. The court also must release the minor unless there is a prima facie showing, meaning enough evidence on its face, that the minor falls under the juvenile court's jurisdiction. The court may consider how serious the alleged offense is "in conjunction with other factors." Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 636, a detention order may last no more than 15 judicial days, with written findings. Home supervision, with or without electronic monitoring, is an alternative. It must be considered equally whether or not the child lives in the county where the offense occurred. Unlike adult court, the self-help guide notes, there is no bail.

A Minor's Rights During Police Questioning

A custodial interrogation means police questioning of someone who is in custody. Before one, and before any waiver of Miranda rights, Welf. & Inst. Code § 625.6 says "a youth 17 years of age or younger shall consult with legal counsel in person, by telephone, or by video conference." The statute adds: "The consultation may not be waived." The Judicial Council sheet explains that after this consultation, officers must give the Miranda warnings, starting with the right to remain silent.

The statute also covers what happens if officers do not comply. A court deciding whether a youth's statements can be used must consider the failure to comply. It must also weigh any willful violation when judging the officer's credibility. Two exceptions apply. The rule does not govern admissibility when an officer reasonably believed the information was needed to protect life or property from an imminent threat and limited the questions to what was reasonably necessary. It also does not require probation officers to follow it during their normal duties under the sections it names.

For a parent who learns afterward that their child was questioned, these are the rules a court would apply. Some rights in adult court work differently here. California juvenile cases have no jury trial, the self-help guide explains; a judge decides. As the detention section above notes, there is no bail.

How a Juvenile Case Moves Through Court: Petition to Disposition

Some cases never reach a judge. The Judicial Council sheet explains that a probation officer may offer diversion, a program the child completes instead of going to court. "Each county has different rules and different programs," and if the family agrees and the child does everything the program requires, the court does not need to get involved.

When a petition goes forward, the self-help guide describes pretrial or settlement conferences, where the lawyers may discuss evidence and file motions. Next comes the jurisdiction hearing, sometimes called the adjudication hearing. This is the trial, decided by a judge, where the district attorney must prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. The youth may instead admit some or all of the allegations. If the judge finds the evidence falls short, the case is dismissed.

If the petition is sustained, a disposition hearing follows, where the judge decides what happens next. According to the Judicial Council sheet, the court may order probation, a period of court-ordered conditions supervised in the community. It may also make the child a ward, or place the child out of the home or commit the child to a juvenile facility. The self-help guide describes group homes, county probation camps and ranches, and secure youth treatment facilities, which are for youth found to have committed the most serious offenses. A youth committed there stays for a specific term with periodic court review. The state's Division of Juvenile Justice closed on June 30, 2023, and no longer takes youth.

How long a child stays in custody after disposition depends on the offense and the court's findings. The juvenile crimes overview covers how specific offenses fit this path.

Transfer to Adult Court: When and How It Happens

A transfer means the case leaves juvenile court and the minor is prosecuted in a court of criminal jurisdiction, where the case is handled as an adult criminal case. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 707, the district attorney may make a motion to transfer in two situations:

  • the minor was 16 or older and is alleged to have committed an offense listed in § 707(b) or any other felony; or
  • the individual was 14 or 15 and is alleged to have committed a § 707(b) offense, but was not apprehended before juvenile court jurisdiction ended.

The motion must be made before jeopardy attaches, roughly before the trial begins. The juvenile court then holds a transfer hearing, where a judge decides whether the case stays in juvenile court. The court orders the probation officer to report on the minor's behavioral patterns and social history, including any statement offered by the victim. After weighing that report and other evidence, the court may transfer only if it finds "by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court." It must consider the criteria the statute sets out.

In California, a transfer is never automatic: under § 707 it runs through a motion and a hearing in juvenile court. More detail is on the page about being tried as an adult.

Sealing a Juvenile Record in California

Sealing closes records from general access. California has several routes, and none turns on an 18th birthday alone.

After probation or informal supervision. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 786, when a person satisfactorily completes informal supervision under § 654.2, probation under § 725, or a term of probation for any offense, "the court shall order the petition dismissed." It then orders records sealed in the custody of the court, law enforcement, probation and the Department of Justice, and sets a date for destroying them. That date is the person's 33rd birthday if a sustained petition bars firearm possession until 30. After dismissal, the arrest and proceedings "shall be deemed not to have occurred," and the person may answer inquiries from employers, schools and others accordingly. Satisfactory completion is deemed to have occurred if the person has no new finding of wardship or conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during the period of supervision or probation, and has not failed to substantially comply with the reasonable orders that are within their capacity to perform. The court may not dismiss or seal under this section if the petition was sustained for a § 707(b) offense committed at age 14 or older, unless that finding was dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor or to a lesser offense not listed in § 707(b).

After diversion. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 786.5, the probation department must seal its records when a juvenile satisfactorily completes a diversion or supervision program instead of a petition. Law enforcement and the Department of Justice must seal theirs within 60 days of notice. Probation must then notify the minor in writing within 30 days.

By petition. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 781, the person or the county probation officer may petition five years or more after juvenile court jurisdiction ends, or at any time after the person turns 18. The court seals if it finds no felony or moral-turpitude misdemeanor conviction since then and rehabilitation "attained to the satisfaction of the court." A petition to seal records of a § 707(b) offense committed at age 14 or older that resulted in wardship may be filed only if the person was committed to the Division of Juvenile Facilities, is 21 or older and has completed probation supervision after release, or was not so committed, is 18 or older and has completed any probation supervision for that offense. Those records cannot be sealed where Penal Code § 290.008 requires the person to register, or where the person was convicted of the offense in criminal court under § 707.1.

Welf. & Inst. Code § 787 allows limited access to sealed records for required data reporting and court-approved research, without releasing identifying information. School, employment and similar consequences can follow a juvenile case and depend on facts and rules this page does not cover. Immigration consequences are governed by immigration law this page does not cover.

If You'd Like to Talk Through Your Child's Case

California's juvenile laws turn on details: the child's age on the date of the alleged offense, whether a petition has been filed, whether the child is detained, and which hearing is next. This page explains how the system generally works; it does not cover any particular child's case.

To request a consultation about a child's juvenile case, contact Juvenile Justice Defense Group. More background is on the juvenile defense overview.