When a minor is charged in North Carolina, the case usually goes to juvenile court rather than adult court. Juvenile court decides whether the allegations are proven and then decides what happens next, with rehabilitation in view. A custody hearing comes quickly if the child is held. Some felonies can move to superior court, where adults are tried.

Most parents reading this page are dealing with something that started suddenly: a phone call from a school or a police officer, a child who did not come home, a court date written on a piece of paper. It may not yet be clear whether the child is being held, what the charge actually is, or whether it will follow them to school and beyond. This page walks through the North Carolina juvenile process in the order a case usually moves: who the juvenile court covers, custody and the first hearings, diversion, adjudication and disposition, transfer to superior court, and what happens to the record.

How North Carolina's Juvenile Court System Works

North Carolina's juvenile court has "exclusive, original jurisdiction over any case involving a juvenile who is alleged to be delinquent." For purposes of jurisdiction, the age of the juvenile at the time of the alleged offense governs, as § 7B-1601 states. Turning older while the case is pending does not change which court starts with it.

A "delinquent juvenile" is defined by age bands in § 7B-1501(7):

  • Ages 10 through 15. A child at least 10 and under 16 who commits a crime or infraction under state law or a local ordinance falls within the definition. This includes motor vehicle violations and indirect contempt.
  • Ages 16 and 17. The same rule applies, with two exclusions. The first is all Chapter 20 motor vehicle violations. The second is any offense punishable as a Class A, B1, B2, C, D or E felony if committed by an adult. That second exclusion also reaches offenses based on the same act or a connected scheme, and greater or lesser included offenses.
  • Ages 8 and 9. A child at least 8 and under 10 falls within the definition in two situations. One is committing a Class A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F or G felony. The other is committing a crime or infraction after a prior adjudication of delinquency.

When the court takes jurisdiction for an offense committed before 16, jurisdiction lasts until the court ends it or the juvenile turns 18. For an offense committed at 16, it lasts until 19. For an offense committed at 17, it lasts until 20. The statute allows exceptions to each of these.

A few terms are used throughout this page:

  • Petition: the court document that formally starts a delinquency case. It is not a criminal complaint or indictment.
  • Adjudication: the court's finding on whether the petition's allegations are proven. It is not a conviction.
  • Disposition: what the court orders afterward. It is not a sentence.
  • Probation: court supervision in the community under conditions.
  • Ward of the court: a phrase some states use for a child under the court's continuing authority.

Practice also varies locally. The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention notes that "even within States, case processing often varies from community to community" (OJJDP).

Arrest, Detention, and the First Hearings

North Carolina law defines detention as "the secure confinement of a juvenile under a court order" (§ 7B-1501(8)). North Carolina custody orders come in two kinds:

  • Secure custody: detention.
  • Nonsecure custody: custody outside a secure facility.

Under § 7B-1906(a), the time limits are short. No juvenile may be held more than five calendar days under a secure custody order without a hearing, and no more than seven calendar days under a nonsecure custody order. The hearing can be either a hearing on the merits or an initial hearing on the need for continued custody. That hearing "may not be continued or waived."

Sometimes the order was entered by an official acting under delegated authority. In that case, the hearing is held at the next regularly scheduled session of district court in that city or county, if the session comes before the deadline. If it does not, the hearing may be held at another regularly scheduled session in the district.

If the child stays in secure custody, further hearings follow at intervals of no more than 30 calendar days. If a party requests an earlier hearing, or the court orders one, it must be scheduled within 10 calendar days. For a juvenile alleged to be delinquent, these further hearings may be waived only with the juvenile's consent, through counsel.

Whether a child is held or released depends on the facts and the court's findings. Rules on police questioning of a minor also depend on the facts, and this page does not set them out.

Counsel comes early. Under § 7B-2000, a juvenile alleged to be within the court's jurisdiction "has the right to be represented by counsel in all proceedings." Counsel is appointed under Office of Indigent Defense Services rules unless counsel is retained. All juveniles are "conclusively presumed to be indigent," so no affidavit of indigency is needed. This page does not address whether other court-appointed roles, such as a guardian ad litem, arise in a delinquency case.

Diversion Before a Petition Is Filed

Many parents reasonably wonder whether a case has to go to court at all. In North Carolina, the first decision often belongs to a juvenile court counselor, the court official who reviews a complaint before a petition is filed. Diversion means handling the matter outside the formal court process.

Under § 7B-1706, the counselor may divert a juvenile after finding the complaint legally sufficient. Diversion is not available when the offense is one for which a petition is required by § 7B-1701(a). If diversion is available, it can take two forms:

  • A diversion plan. This may include referrals to resources.
  • A diversion contract. The contract requires the consent of both the juvenile and the parent, guardian or custodian, and it cannot exceed six months. Successful completion of the contract "shall preclude the filing of a petition."

Follow-up is built in. No later than 60 days after diverting a juvenile, the counselor must determine whether the family complied, including by contacting the referral resources.

The records are handled differently from court files. Diversion plans and contracts are not public records and are not part of the clerk's record. They are destroyed when the juvenile turns 18 or leaves the court's jurisdiction, whichever is longer. Whether diversion is offered in a given case is the counselor's decision under the statute.

The Adjudication and Disposition Process

Once a petition is filed, an adjudicatory hearing is scheduled. OJJDP describes it as the juvenile version of a trial: "witnesses are called and the facts of the case are presented." In nearly all such hearings, a judge decides whether the youth was responsible, although some states give a right to a jury trial (OJJDP).

If the allegations are proven, the court moves to disposition. Dispositions can range from supervision in the community, such as probation with conditions, to more restrictive orders. Which disposition a court orders depends on the offense, the child's history and circumstances, and the options North Carolina law provides. This page does not describe how North Carolina groups those options, and it does not predict what a court will order.

For a parent, the gap between these two hearings matters. One decides what happened. The other decides what the court does about it.

Transfer to Adult Court in North Carolina

A transfer hearing is where the juvenile court decides whether a case moves to superior court for trial as in the case of adults. North Carolina's rules depend on the child's age at the time of the alleged offense and the felony class.

Under 16 (§ 7B-2200):

  • Discretionary transfer. The court may transfer a juvenile who was at least 13 but under 16 and is alleged to have committed a felony other than a Class A felony. Before it can do so, there must be notice, a hearing and a finding of probable cause. The request can come from the prosecutor, from the juvenile's attorney, or from the court on its own motion. This rule is subject to § 7B-2200.5.
  • Mandatory transfer. The court shall transfer a case involving a Class A felony. This happens either when the court finds probable cause or upon notice of the return of a true bill of indictment.

Ages 16 and 17 (§ 7B-2200.5):

  • Class F or G felony. The court shall transfer after either notice of a true bill of indictment, or notice, a hearing and a probable-cause finding. The exception is when the prosecutor declines to prosecute in superior court. If the prosecutor declines, the case stays in juvenile court. The prosecutor may still choose transfer before adjudication.
  • Class H or I felony. The court may transfer after notice, a hearing and probable cause. The request can come from the prosecutor, from the juvenile's attorney, or from the court on its own motion.

Where transfer is discretionary, the court makes a decision after the hearing. This page does not set out what the court weighs in making that decision.

Transfer can also be reversed. Once a case has been transferred, the superior court shall send it back to district court on a joint motion of the prosecutor and the juvenile's attorney. At that point the superior court record is expunged. A transferred case otherwise proceeds in adult court, outside the juvenile system's protections.

Other states draw these lines differently. California juvenile defense and Pennsylvania juvenile defense each follow their own state's rules.

Sealing a Juvenile Record in North Carolina

A sealed or expunged record is closed off or cleared under a court order. That is different from a record simply disappearing, which no one should assume happens.

North Carolina's juvenile code itself limits some records. Diversion plans and contracts are withheld from public inspection and destroyed on the schedule described in the diversion section. When a transferred case is remanded, the superior court record is expunged. Whether a court record of an adjudication can be expunged depends on the offense, the outcome and conditions this page does not set out.

Parents are often most afraid of what follows a child out of the courtroom. Consequences for school discipline, college admissions, employment and financial aid can follow a juvenile case. Those consequences 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 This Site Covers — and What It Does Not

Juvenile Justice Defense Group provides information about how North Carolina's juvenile process moves: intake and diversion, custody hearings, adjudication, disposition, transfer, and records.

This page does not cover:

  • adult criminal cases, except where a juvenile case is transferred
  • abuse, neglect and dependency cases, which are a separate part of the North Carolina Juvenile Code
  • school disciplinary hearings with no charge
  • immigration proceedings

Discussing Your Child's Case

A North Carolina juvenile case can turn on details that only the paperwork shows. These include the felony class charged, the child's exact age on the date alleged, whether a custody order was entered, and whether a juvenile court counselor has decided on diversion. A consultation can cover the complaint or petition, the hearing dates already set, the child's current custody status, and the stage the case has reached. This page does not address abuse or neglect cases or another state's rules.

Families who want to talk these questions through with an attorney may contact Juvenile Justice Defense Group to request a consultation about a child's juvenile case.