When a child is accused of a crime, a juvenile defense attorney represents that child in juvenile court, a separate system with its own steps and words. Juvenile court focuses on rehabilitation, uses a petition instead of criminal charges, and decides cases at hearings before a judge. The rules on detention, adult court and sealing differ from state to state.
Most people facing this have just had a phone call they never expected. Police have questioned their son or daughter, or made an arrest, or the child is being held in juvenile hall, and the parent is trying to work out what happens tonight, what happens at school on Monday, and whether this follows the child for life. This page walks through how a juvenile case moves, from the first police contact to record sealing, using California's statutes as the worked example and saying plainly where other states differ.
What a Juvenile Defense Attorney Does
A juvenile defense attorney represents a minor at each stage of a juvenile case: police questioning, the detention hearing, the adjudication hearing, the disposition hearing and, where one is held, a transfer hearing. A minor here means a young person still within the age range the state's juvenile court covers.
The work at each stage is specific. At detention, the attorney can challenge the grounds for holding the child in custody. Against the petition, which is the charging document in juvenile court, the attorney can contest the allegations. At the adjudication hearing, the juvenile-court version of a trial, the attorney presents evidence and tests the prosecution's evidence. At disposition, the attorney argues for the least restrictive outcome the law allows.
Juvenile court also has its own vocabulary, and an attorney for juvenile charges works inside it. A case starts with a petition, not a criminal complaint. The court holds an adjudication or jurisdiction hearing, not a trial. It orders a disposition, not a sentence. A child found to have committed an offense may become a ward of the court, meaning the court takes legal responsibility for supervising the child. A ward is not a convicted defendant. The words matter, because they reflect a system built on different goals.
How Juvenile Court Differs from Adult Criminal Court
Rehabilitation, not punishment, is the starting point. Juvenile court was built to address a young person's needs and behavior, not simply to impose a penalty. California's transfer statute reflects this: it turns on whether a minor "is not amenable to rehabilitation while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court."
Who decides the case also differs. The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention notes in its juvenile case flow overview that "in nearly all adjudicatory hearings the determination that the youth was responsible for the offense(s) is made by a judge," although in some states the youth has a right to a jury trial. The judge does not decide "guilt." The judge decides whether the petition is sustained, meaning the allegations are found true, or not sustained.
Juvenile proceedings are also generally handled with more privacy than adult cases, though how closed hearings are and who may see records vary by state and sometimes by the seriousness of the offense. A sustained petition is not a criminal conviction, and a disposition is not a sentence. A side-by-side look at juvenile court and adult court covers these differences in more depth.
The same OJJDP page states that "each State's processing of law violators is unique." The ages juvenile court covers, transfer rules, diversion and sealing all vary. In California, under Welf. & Inst. Code § 602, juvenile court covers minors who were between 12 and 17, inclusive, when the alleged violation occurred, with exceptions in § 707, and covers a minor under 12 only for murder and certain forcible sex offenses the section lists.
How a Juvenile Case Moves: From Arrest to Disposition
Each case moves through a series of decision points, and parents often learn about each one only when it arrives. Here is the sequence, with California's rules where its statutes set them.
Police contact and questioning. A minor may be taken into custody when police have probable cause to believe the minor committed an offense. In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 625.6 provides that before a custodial interrogation, and before any waiver of Miranda rights, a youth 17 or younger "shall consult with legal counsel in person, by telephone, or by video conference," and that this consultation "may not be waived." The section does not apply to the admissibility of statements when 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 to get it. It also does not require a probation officer to comply in the normal performance of certain probation duties.
The detention decision. In California, once a minor is delivered to the probation officer, § 628 requires the officer to investigate and release the minor to a parent, guardian or responsible relative unless continuing in the home is contrary to the minor's welfare and one of three conditions exists: detention is a matter of immediate and urgent necessity for the minor's protection or reasonably necessary to protect another person or property; the minor is likely to flee; or the minor has violated a juvenile court order. Under § 631, a minor in custody generally must be released within 48 hours, excluding nonjudicial days, unless a petition or a criminal complaint has been filed within that time.
The detention hearing. A detention hearing is the court hearing where a judge decides whether the child stays in custody. OJJDP's overview says a detention hearing must be held within a time set by each state's statute, "generally within 24 hours." In California, § 635 requires release unless the court finds a ground for detention similar to those above, and the court may consider the circumstances and gravity of the alleged offense along with other factors. Under § 636, a detention order may last no more than 15 judicial days. Both sections give a minor equal consideration for release on home supervision, which may include electronic monitoring, regardless of whether the minor lives in the county where the offense occurred.
The petition. In California, a petition alleges that the minor is a person described in § 602 and asks the court to declare the minor a ward.
The adjudication hearing. The judge hears evidence and decides whether the petition is sustained.
Disposition. If the petition is sustained, a disposition hearing decides what happens next. Probation staff prepare a report, and options can include probation, meaning supervision in the community under court-ordered conditions, or placement outside the home, depending on the case and the state's law.
Diversion. Diversion resolves a case outside formal adjudication, usually through a program or supervision with conditions. In California, under § 786, satisfactory completion of an informal program of supervision under § 654.2 leads the court to dismiss the petition. Whether diversion is offered depends on the case, the child's history and local practice. Charge-specific pages, such as those on juvenile sex crimes and school-related charges, show how this sequence applies to particular offenses.
Transfer to Adult Court: When It Can Happen and What It Requires
Few questions frighten parents more than whether their child could be tried as an adult. A transfer hearing, called a fitness hearing in some states, is where a court decides whether a minor's case should move to adult criminal court.
In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 707(a) allows the prosecutor to move for a transfer only in two situations: for an offense listed in § 707(b) or any other felony, alleged to have been committed when the minor was 16 or older; or for a § 707(b) offense committed at 14 or 15 by a person who was not apprehended before juvenile court jurisdiction ended. The motion must be made before jeopardy attaches. The court then orders a probation report on the minor's behavioral patterns and social history, which includes any statement offered by the victim.
The standard is demanding. Under § 707(a)(3), the court must "find by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court," and must consider the criteria the statute lists, including the degree of criminal sophistication the minor showed. If the court orders a transfer, it must state its reasons on the record. A plea to the petition is postponed until the transfer hearing ends.
Other states handle this very differently. OJJDP describes states where legislatures require certain cases to be filed in criminal court, and states where prosecutors may choose between juvenile and adult court for a defined list of cases. Ages, offenses and standards vary; the Florida juvenile system is one example of a different structure. Whether transfer is possible in any case depends on the child's age, the alleged offense and the state's law.
Juvenile Record Sealing: What It Means and When It Can Happen
A juvenile record does not disappear at 18, and it is not erased or sealed automatically on a birthday. Sealing is a court order that restricts access to a juvenile record so that it is not open to the public and, in most circumstances, need not be disclosed.
In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 786 provides that when a person satisfactorily completes an informal program of supervision under § 654.2, probation under § 725, or a term of probation for any offense, the court shall dismiss the petition and seal the records held by the court, law enforcement, the probation department and the Department of Justice. Satisfactory completion means no new wardship finding or conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during supervision, and no failure to substantially comply with reasonable orders within the person's capacity. Unpaid restitution does not by itself count as unsatisfactory completion. There is an important exception in § 786(d): the court shall not seal or dismiss under § 786 if the petition was sustained based on a § 707(b) offense committed at 14 or older, unless that finding was dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor or to a lesser offense not listed in § 707(b).
Section 781 allows a person to petition for sealing five years or more after juvenile court jurisdiction ends, or at any time after turning 18. The court orders sealing only if it finds that, since jurisdiction ended, the person has not been convicted of a felony or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and that rehabilitation has been attained to the court's satisfaction. For a § 707(b) offense committed after age 14 that resulted in wardship, a petition may be filed or considered only in the circumstances § 781(a)(1)(D) lists. Under § 786.5, the probation department seals its records after satisfactory completion of diversion or supervision ordered instead of a petition.
Sealing rules vary by state; California's juvenile system is covered in more depth elsewhere on this site. School discipline, college admissions and employment 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.
What to Look for in an Attorney for Juvenile Charges
Parents searching at this point often ask whether any criminal lawyer can handle a juvenile case. Juvenile court has its own procedures, vocabulary and goals, and a juvenile criminal defense attorney who regularly handles these cases knows how the detention hearing works, what the adjudication hearing requires, what disposition options exist, including diversion and probation, and what standard governs a transfer hearing.
Record sealing is part of the picture from the beginning. How a petition is resolved, including whether a finding is reduced, can affect whether sealing under a statute like California's § 786 is available later. An attorney for a minor charged with a crime who knows the sealing rules can keep the long view in mind while the case is still moving.
This page explains how juvenile cases generally work. It does not cover every state's rules, every offense or every local court's procedures. A conversation with our juvenile defense attorney about the child's case, including the charges, the stage the case has reached and what the law allows at that stage, is where specific questions get discussed.
If You'd Like to Talk Through Your Child's Case
A juvenile case can move quickly in its first days, through the detention decision, the petition and the first hearing, and each stage has its own rules. A consultation can cover what the petition alleges, whether the child is detained, which hearing comes next and what the court decides at it. This page explains the general system and does not address the details of any one child's case.
To talk about the case with our juvenile defense attorney, contact Juvenile Justice Defense Group to request a consultation about a child's juvenile case.