When a minor is accused of a drug offense, the case usually goes to juvenile court, not adult criminal court. A juvenile drug charges lawyer represents the child through police questioning, the detention hearing, any transfer hearing, the jurisdiction hearing and the disposition. The process and its results differ from adult court and vary from state to state.

Most parents facing this have just had a phone call from a police station, a school office or juvenile hall, and they are trying to piece together what a drug arrest means for a teenager who may be sitting in custody tonight. They want to know whether their child will come home, whether this goes on a permanent record, what it means for school and whether the case could end up in adult court. This page walks through each stage of a juvenile drug case, using California's rules as the worked example and saying plainly where other states differ.

How Juvenile Drug Cases Enter the Court System

A juvenile drug case usually starts with a police contact or an arrest. According to the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's case flow overview, police may release a young person or refer the case on. Court intake, generally run by the probation department and/or the prosecutor's office, then decides whether to dismiss the case, handle it informally or ask for formal court action.

Formal action begins with a petition, the document that starts a juvenile case. It is not a criminal complaint. In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 602 places a minor between 12 and 17, inclusive, who violates a state or federal criminal law, or a local criminal ordinance other than an age-based curfew, within juvenile court jurisdiction, except as § 707 provides. Under § 602(b), a child under 12 comes within it only for murder and certain forcible sex offenses.

A few more terms come up throughout. A detention hearing decides whether the child stays in custody. A jurisdiction hearing, also called an adjudication hearing, decides whether the allegations are true. A disposition is what the court orders next. A child made a ward of the court is under the court's supervision. Probation is court-ordered supervision with conditions. Diversion resolves a case outside formal court action.

The words matter: an adjudication is not a conviction, and a disposition is not a sentence. The ages covered, detention rules, diversion and sealing all differ by state, so an attorney for juvenile drug charges works from the rules of the state where the case is pending.

Common Drug Offenses Alleged Against Minors

Juvenile drug petitions tend to fall into a few broad categories:

  • Possession of a controlled substance.
  • Possession for sale or with intent to distribute.
  • Being under the influence of a controlled substance.
  • Paraphernalia offenses.

The exact charge depends on the substance, the quantity and what happened during the police contact. Cases built on allegations of selling are covered in more depth on our page about juvenile drug sales charges.

Some drug offenses are misdemeanors and others are felonies, depending on the state's law. That label matters later. In California, for instance, a transfer motion under § 707(a) can rest on "any other felony" committed at 16 or older, and the sealing rules turn on which offense was sustained.

At the jurisdiction hearing, the court decides whether the evidence proves the petition. Physical evidence, witness statements and the circumstances of the stop or search all bear on that question; no formula decides it. A juvenile criminal defense attorney often looks first at whether police had lawful grounds to stop, search or question the child, because search-and-seizure issues come up frequently in drug cases.

A Minor's Rights During Police Questioning

In In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), the United States Supreme Court held that minors in juvenile delinquency proceedings have due process rights, including the right to counsel and the privilege against self-incrimination. Those protections are why Miranda warnings apply to a teenager in custody, not only to adults.

California adds a rule of its own. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 625.6(a), before a custodial interrogation and before any waiver of Miranda rights, a youth 17 years of age or younger "shall consult with legal counsel in person, by telephone, or by video conference," and that consultation "may not be waived." When a court later decides whether the youth's statements can be used, § 625.6(b) requires it to consider any failure to comply, and to weigh a willful violation in judging the officer's credibility.

The statute has limits. Under § 625.6(c), it does not apply to admissibility when the officer reasonably believed the information was necessary to protect life or property from an imminent threat and asked only questions reasonably necessary to get it. Under § 625.6(d), it does not require a probation officer to comply in the normal performance of duties under §§ 625, 627.5 or 628.

This consultation requirement is California's rule. Other states set their own rules for questioning minors, and they differ.

Detention, Diversion, and Disposition: What the Court Decides

A child arrested on a drug allegation may be released to a parent or held in juvenile hall until a judge decides. For a parent waiting outside a detention facility, this is often the first and most pressing question.

Detention. In California, once a minor is delivered to the probation officer, Welf. & Inst. Code § 628 requires the officer to investigate immediately and release the child to a parent, guardian or responsible relative. The exception applies only where staying home is shown to be contrary to the child's welfare and one or more of these conditions exist: detention is urgently necessary 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.

Under § 631(a), a minor in custody must generally be released within 48 hours, excluding nonjudicial days, unless a petition or a criminal complaint is filed within that time. The exception is a minor who willfully claimed to be 18 or older.

At the detention hearing, § 635 directs the court to release the minor unless the minor has violated a court order, has escaped from a juvenile court commitment, needs protection or poses a risk to others or their property, or is likely to flee. The court must also order release unless a prima facie showing is made that the minor is a person described in § 601 or § 602. The court may weigh the circumstances and gravity of the alleged offense together with other factors. Under § 636, a detention order may last no more than 15 judicial days. Sections 635(b)(2) and 636 also require that a minor be given 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.

Diversion. OJJDP describes informal handling in which a youth agrees to conditions for a set period, sometimes called "informal probation," with the case dismissed if the youth complies. Whether diversion is available depends on the offense, the child's history and the decision of probation or the court. Programs vary by state and county. The ways a case can end early are covered in our page on whether juvenile charges can be dismissed.

Disposition. If the petition is sustained, the court holds a disposition hearing. Options commonly include probation at home with conditions, placement outside the home or, in serious cases, a secure facility. California's former Division of Juvenile Justice no longer operates. An attorney for a minor charged with a drug offense can address the disposition options the law currently allows.

Transfer to Adult Court

Moving a case to adult court changes almost everything about it. Adult proceedings are public, and an adult conviction is a conviction, not a juvenile adjudication. The range of consequences also differs.

In California, Welf. & Inst. Code § 707 governs the transfer hearing, the juvenile court hearing that decides whether a case moves to a court of criminal jurisdiction. Under § 707(a), the prosecutor may make a transfer motion in only two situations. The first is an offense listed in § 707(b), or any other felony, alleged to have been committed when the minor was 16 or older. The second is 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, and the court orders a probation report on the minor's behavior and social history.

The court may order a 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 state its reasons in its order. A plea to the petition is postponed until the transfer hearing ends. These ages, offenses and standards are California's. Other states set different ones, and the OJJDP overview notes that some states route certain cases to criminal court through the prosecutor or the legislature.

Juvenile Drug Records and Sealing

A juvenile drug case leaves records with the court, probation and law enforcement. Who can see them depends on the state's rules. Those records do not vanish on a birthday, and in California nothing seals them automatically at 18.

Sealing is a court order that closes the records and treats the proceedings as if they did not occur. California offers two main routes:

  • Sealing on satisfactory completion (§ 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 dismiss the petition and seal the records. Under § 786(c)(1), completion is satisfactory if the person has no new findings of wardship or conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during supervision, and has not failed to substantially comply with reasonable orders within the person's capacity. Under § 786(d), the court shall not seal or dismiss under this section if the petition was sustained 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).
  • Sealing by petition (§ 781). A person may petition 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.

A juvenile drug case can also bring school discipline, college admissions and financial aid questions, and employment questions. These depend on the facts and on rules this page does not cover; see our pages on juvenile charges and school and juvenile charges and college. Immigration consequences are governed by immigration law this page does not cover; our page on juvenile charges and immigration discusses it further. Sealing rules differ by state.

What a Juvenile Defense Attorney Does in a Drug Case

A juvenile defense attorney's work follows the case stage by stage. In California, it can begin before questioning, with the consultation § 625.6 requires. At the detention hearing, the attorney presents the information the court weighs under §§ 635 and 636, including the option of home supervision. If a transfer motion is filed, the attorney contests the question of amenability to rehabilitation. At the jurisdiction hearing, the attorney tests the evidence. At disposition, the attorney presents alternatives to the court.

Along the way, an attorney for juvenile drug charges examines the stop and search for Fourth Amendment issues and reviews the evidence the prosecution intends to use. The attorney also looks at whether diversion or informal supervision may be available. The aim is that the child's rights are protected at every stage and that the court decides with accurate, complete information.

No two juvenile drug cases follow the same path. What a case involves depends on its facts, the child's history, the state and county, and the court's findings. Juvenile Justice Defense Group publishes this page to explain those stages, not to predict how any single case will turn out.

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

A drug allegation against a teenager touches detention, possible transfer, school and a record that will not seal itself, all at once. A consultation with our juvenile defense attorney can cover the petition and the offense it alleges, whether your child is detained, the hearing dates already set and which stage the case has reached. This page does not cover school discipline rules, immigration law or the detailed rules of every state.

To talk with our attorney, you can contact Juvenile Justice Defense Group and request a consultation about a child's juvenile case.