After a juvenile arrest, the case usually moves through a series of decisions: police release the child, cite them or take them into custody; a probation officer decides whether the child goes home or stays in juvenile hall; a judge holds a detention hearing; and the case may then be diverted, dismissed, heard in juvenile court or moved to adult court.
If your son or daughter is sitting in a police station tonight, or has just come home with a citation and a court date, the questions arrive all at once: Can my child come home? Will there be a hearing? What happens at school? Most people facing this process have never set foot in a juvenile court. This guide walks through it in order, one decision point at a time, and names what each step depends on.
Before You Start: What This Guide Covers and What Varies by State
Every state runs its juvenile courts under its own statutes, so the ages covered, the deadlines and the possible outcomes differ. The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention puts it plainly: each state's processing of law violators is unique, and practice varies even between communities within one state.
A shared constitutional floor sits beneath those differences. In In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court held that in delinquency proceedings that may result in commitment to an institution in which the juvenile's freedom is curtailed, due process requires that the child and parents be notified of the right to counsel, with counsel appointed if they cannot afford one.
This guide explains how cases generally move and uses California as the worked example, saying so each time. Juvenile court also uses its own vocabulary. A petition is the document asking the juvenile court to take a case; it is not a criminal complaint. An adjudication is the court's finding that the allegations are true; it is not a conviction. A disposition is the court's order about what happens next; it is not a sentence. Other terms are defined where they first appear. For a wider overview, see the juvenile court process guide.
Step 1: Police Contact and the Decision to Take a Minor Into Custody
An officer who encounters a minor suspected of an offense may release the child, issue a citation that requires a later appearance, or take the child into custody.
According to OJJDP, at arrest a decision is made either to send the matter further into the justice system or to divert it. Law enforcement usually makes that decision after talking with the alleged victim, the youth and the parents, and many youth are diverted out of the system at this point.
In California, under Welf. & Inst. Code § 625, a peace officer may take a minor under 18 into temporary custody without a warrant when the officer has reasonable cause to believe the minor is a person described in § 601 or § 602, and may also do so for a ward believed to have violated a juvenile court order. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 627, when an officer takes a minor before a probation officer at a juvenile hall or another place of confinement, the officer must take immediate steps to notify the minor's parent, guardian or a responsible relative that the minor is in custody and where the minor is being held.
Step 2: Questioning — The Minor's Rights Before and During Police Interrogation
Miranda protections apply to minors in custody, and the U.S. Supreme Court held in J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261 (2011), that a child's age is relevant to deciding whether the child was in custody. A minor has the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney present during questioning, and statements a minor makes can be used in juvenile proceedings.
California's rule, Welf. & Inst. Code § 625, requires an officer who takes a minor into temporary custody on reasonable cause to believe the minor is a person described in § 601 or § 602, or has violated a juvenile court order or escaped from a commitment, to advise the minor that anything said can be used against them, and of the right to remain silent, to have counsel present during any interrogation, and to have counsel appointed if the minor cannot afford one.
California adds a further step. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 625.6, before a custodial interrogation and before any waiver of Miranda rights, a youth 17 or younger must consult with legal counsel in person, by phone or by video, and that consultation cannot be waived. The section's admissibility rules do not apply where the officer reasonably believed the information was necessary 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 comply in their normal duties under the sections it lists. This is California's rule; other states set their own.
Step 3: The Detention Decision — Juvenile Hall or Release
Once a child is in custody, the case usually passes to a probation officer, who decides whether to release the child to a parent, release on home supervision, or hold the child in a juvenile detention facility. That facility, often called juvenile hall, is a secure setting for minors; it is not an adult jail or prison.
In California, under Welf. & Inst. Code § 628, the probation officer must immediately investigate and immediately release the child to a parent, guardian or responsible relative unless continuing in the home is contrary to the child's welfare and at least one of these conditions exists: detention is a matter of immediate and urgent necessity to protect the child, or reasonably necessary to protect another person or property; the child is likely to flee; or the child has violated a juvenile court order.
California also sets outer limits. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 631, a minor generally must be released within 48 hours, excluding nonjudicial days, unless a petition has been filed (or a criminal complaint, in a court of competent jurisdiction) within that time; this does not apply where the minor willfully misrepresented being 18 or older. Home supervision generally means the child lives at home under conditions set by probation or the court, which in California may include electronic monitoring.
Step 4: The Petition and the Detention Hearing
This is the hearing many parents are waiting for, because it is where a judge first decides whether a detained child can come home. The petition comes first. It alleges that the minor broke a law and asks the juvenile court to declare the minor a ward of the court, meaning a minor over whom the juvenile court has taken jurisdiction and placed under court supervision.
In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 602 covers minors between 12 and 17, inclusive, when the alleged violation occurred, except as § 707 provides. It also covers children under 12 for certain listed offenses, including murder and certain forcible sex offenses.
The detention hearing is a detained child's first court appearance. Under California's Welf. & Inst. Code § 632, a detained minor must be brought before a judge or referee as soon as possible, and no later than the end of the next judicial day after the petition is filed. For a minor taken into custody without a warrant on the belief that the minor committed a misdemeanor not involving violence, a threat of violence, or possession or use of weapons, and who is not currently on probation or parole, the limit is 48 hours after the minor was taken into custody, excluding nonjudicial days, once a petition has been filed. A minor not brought before the court in time must be released. In re Gault held that, in delinquency proceedings that may result in commitment to an institution in which the juvenile's freedom is curtailed, the child and parents must be notified of the right to counsel, with counsel appointed if they cannot afford one.
Under California's Welf. & Inst. Code § 635, the court hears evidence and must order release unless the child violated a court order, escaped a commitment, needs detention for protection or is likely to flee; the court may consider the gravity of the alleged offense alongside other factors, but may not base detention solely on county of residence. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 636, a detention order may last no more than 15 judicial days, and where the § 628.1 criteria apply, the court must place the child on home supervision.
Step 5: Diversion — When a Case May Be Resolved Before a Formal Hearing
Diversion resolves a case outside a formal hearing. The child typically completes requirements, and the petition is dismissed or never filed. OJJDP lists victim restitution, school attendance, drug counseling and a curfew among the conditions an informal agreement may include; that list is not exhaustive.
Diversion is not available in every case. Eligibility depends on the offense, the child's history and local policy, and the probation department, the prosecutor or the court may have authority to offer it depending on the state and program. OJJDP describes informal handling at intake, sometimes through a written agreement called a consent decree, and notes that in most jurisdictions a youth may be offered an informal disposition only after admitting the act. If the youth does not meet the conditions, the case may be formally prosecuted.
Completing diversion generally means no formal adjudication; what happens to the record varies by state and program. California's rule is covered in the records section below.
Step 6: The Jurisdiction Hearing (Adjudication) and Disposition
If the case is not diverted or dismissed, it proceeds to a jurisdiction hearing, also called an adjudication hearing, where the court decides whether the petition's allegations are true. Under In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970), the allegations must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, the same standard used in adult criminal trials.
A judge, not a jury, usually decides. McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528 (1971), held that a jury trial is not constitutionally required in the adjudicative phase of a state juvenile court delinquency proceeding, although OJJDP notes that in some states the youth is given the right to a jury trial.
If the allegations are found true, the court holds a disposition hearing to decide what happens next. Options typically include probation, community service, placement in a group home or residential facility, or, in the most serious cases, a secure facility; the range varies by state and offense. OJJDP notes that probation staff usually prepare a report before disposition and that the prosecutor and the youth may present recommendations. California's Division of Juvenile Justice no longer operates; under Welf. & Inst. Code § 875, a court may order a ward who is 14 or older committed to a secure youth treatment facility only if the ward was adjudicated for an offense listed in § 707(b) that was committed at 14 or older, it is the ward's most recent adjudicated offense, and the court finds on the record that a less restrictive disposition is unsuitable.
Step 7: Transfer to Adult Court — When It Can Happen and How
A transfer hearing, also called a waiver hearing, decides whether a minor's case leaves juvenile court for adult criminal court. OJJDP describes a waiver petition on which a judge decides whether jurisdiction should be waived, a decision that generally centers on whether the youth is amenable to treatment in the juvenile justice system. Some states use other mechanisms, and OJJDP notes that some legislatures require or allow prosecutors to file certain cases in criminal court.
In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 707 allows the district attorney to move to transfer a minor alleged to have violated any felony, or an offense listed in § 707(b), at 16 or older. For a § 707(b) offense alleged at 14 or 15, a transfer motion is possible only if the person was not apprehended before juvenile court jurisdiction ended. The motion must come before jeopardy attaches. The court then orders a probation report on the minor's behavioral patterns and social history, including any victim statement offered. To transfer, the court must find by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation under juvenile court jurisdiction, considering the criteria the section lists.
If the court orders a transfer, the case moves from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction. For more, see when a juvenile is tried as an adult.
Step 8: Probation, Conditions, and What Comes After a Disposition
Probation is the most common juvenile disposition: the child stays in the community under court supervision and follows conditions the court sets. According to OJJDP, a probation order may include additional requirements such as drug counseling, weekend confinement in the local detention center, and community or victim restitution. OJJDP notes that review hearings are often held to track progress.
In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 625 allows an officer to take a ward into temporary custody on reasonable cause to believe the ward violated a juvenile court order.
OJJDP reports that the term of probation may be for a specified period of time or open ended, and that after the conditions of probation have been successfully met, the judge terminates the case. School, employment and other consequences can follow a juvenile case and depend on the facts and on rules this page does not cover; immigration consequences are governed by immigration law this page does not cover.
Juvenile Records: Confidentiality, Access, and Sealing
For many families, the record is the worry that outlasts the case itself. How juvenile court records are kept and who may see them varies by state and offense. A juvenile record does not automatically disappear or seal at 18. Sealing generally closes a record to most access, and what it does varies by state.
California has several routes, including the following. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 786, when a ward satisfactorily completes informal supervision under § 654.2, probation under § 725 or a term of probation for any offense, the court must dismiss the petition and seal the records, subject to the conditions and exceptions in that section, including one for certain offenses listed in § 707(b) committed at 14 or older; the proceedings are then deemed not to have occurred. Under § 786, where a sustained petition makes the person ineligible to own or possess a firearm until 30, the sealed records are destroyed when the person turns 33.
Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 786.5, the probation department must seal records after satisfactory completion of diversion or supervision ordered in place of a petition. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 781, a person may in general petition for sealing five years after jurisdiction ends, or at any time after turning 18; the court must find no felony conviction or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude since then and rehabilitation to its satisfaction. Added conditions apply to a petition about an offense listed in § 707(b) that was committed at 14 or older and resulted in wardship. Sex-offense registration, college admissions and financial aid depend on rules this page does not cover.
When the Process Gets Complicated: Factors That Change How a Case Moves
Serious offenses and prior record
The seriousness of the alleged offense, a prior juvenile record and the child's age at the time all shape detention, diversion and disposition. Offense-specific guides, such as California juvenile assault charges, cover particular charges.
School discipline running alongside
An arrest or adjudication can have school consequences that depend on the facts and on rules this page does not cover.
Possible transfer
When transfer to adult court is possible, the stakes increase. None of these factors predicts a result.
Typical Timeline: From Arrest to Resolution
The timeline varies widely by state, by the case's complexity and by whether it is diverted, adjudicated or transferred. Detention hearings come quickly. OJJDP reports that every state sets a statutory deadline, generally within 24 hours; California's limits appear in Step 4.
The time from petition to adjudication depends on the court's calendar, whether the child is detained and whether the case is contested. OJJDP describes an investigation report prepared by probation staff between the adjudication decision and the disposition hearing.
Discussing What Comes Next in Your Child's Case
The hours and days after a juvenile arrest are filled with decisions made by other people, from the officer to the probation officer to the judge. This page describes the general process and does not address the facts of any one case.
To talk through those questions with an attorney, you can request a consultation about a child's juvenile case through Juvenile Justice Defense Group.