When a child is charged in Ohio, the case begins in juvenile court, which handles people under 18 under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2152. A complaint alleges the child is a delinquent child; the court decides whether that is proven and issues a disposition. Some felony cases can move to adult court.

Most people reading this page are parents or guardians who got a phone call they did not expect: a teenager picked up by police, held in a juvenile detention facility, or handed papers with a court date in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron or Dayton. The questions arrive all at once. Will my child come home tonight? What does this charge actually mean? Could this follow them into school, college, a job? This page walks through how an Ohio juvenile case moves, step by step, in the words Ohio's statutes use.

How Ohio Juvenile Court Works

Ohio's juvenile court rules for delinquency cases sit in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2152. Ohio Revised Code § 2152.02(C)(1) states that "child" means a person who is under eighteen years of age, except as otherwise provided in divisions (C)(2) to (8) of that section. One of those exceptions matters for older cases: a person who, while under 18, commits an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult and is not taken into custody until after turning 21 is not a child for that act.

Jurisdiction can also last past 18. A person adjudicated a delinquent child before turning 18 remains under the juvenile court's jurisdiction, and is treated as a "child" for that adjudication, until age 21.

Key terms

  • Complaint: in Ohio juvenile court, the charging document that alleges a child is a delinquent child. Many states call this a petition.
  • Adjudication: the court's finding that a child is a delinquent child. Ohio's statute uses this word, not "conviction."
  • Disposition: the court's order after an adjudication, in place of what adult court calls a sentence.
  • Community control: Ohio's term for court supervision in the community, the closest match to what many states call probation.
  • Diversion: resolving a case outside a formal adjudication.
  • Detention hearing: the hearing where a judge decides whether a held child stays held.
  • Transfer (bindover): moving a case to adult court; the amenability hearing is where the court weighs it.
  • Sealing: a court order closing off a juvenile record.

Each of Ohio's counties, including Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Lucas, Summit and Montgomery, has its own juvenile court. Rules in other states differ; Ohio's are not California's, Pennsylvania's or anyone else's.

Arrest, Detention, and the First Hearing in Ohio

A detention hearing is often the first time a parent sees their child in front of a judge. The U.S. Department of Justice's OJJDP case flow summary states that in all states a detention hearing must be held within a time period defined by statute, generally within 24 hours. At that hearing a judge reviews the case and decides whether continued detention is warranted, and the youth may be released or detention continued. The same page notes that detention may extend beyond the adjudicatory and dispositional hearings.

Ohio's rules on holding children appear in Chapter 2152, including § 2152.26, which governs where and how an alleged delinquent child may be detained. Exactly how soon the hearing must follow, and what the court weighs in deciding between release and continued detention, depend on that statute and on the county juvenile court hearing the case; each county's court makes its own detention decisions.

One Ohio detention rule is stated directly. Under Ohio Revised Code § 2152.13, if a child in a serious youthful offender case (explained below) is detained awaiting adjudication, then upon indictment or being charged by information, the child has the same right to bail as an adult charged with the matching offense.

For a parent waiting in a courthouse hallway, the detention hearing is a decision point, not the end of the case.

The Adjudication Process: From Complaint to Disposition

The adjudicatory hearing

After a complaint is filed, the case moves toward an adjudicatory hearing. As the OJJDP case flow summary describes it generally, witnesses are called and the facts are presented, and in nearly all such hearings a judge, not a jury, decides whether the youth was responsible, though in some states the youth has a right to a jury trial. In Ohio, the result is a finding that the child is, or is not, a delinquent child.

Counsel and the standard of proof

Parents often ask whether their child has a lawyer at this stage and how much the state must prove. This page addresses counsel only in one setting: in a serious youthful offender case, § 2152.13 gives the child all rights of a person prosecuted for a crime, including the right to counsel, and the child may not waive that right (see the transfer section below). The right to counsel in other delinquency cases, and the standard of proof the court applies at an adjudicatory hearing, are set by law this page does not quote, so they are not stated here.

Diversion

Diversion, where it is offered, resolves a case without a formal adjudication, usually by completing set requirements. Whether it is available, and on what terms, depends on the county, the court and the offense.

Disposition options

If the child is adjudicated delinquent, Ohio Revised Code § 2152.19 lets the court make several orders of disposition, in addition to others the chapter authorizes, including:

  • placement in a detention facility or district detention facility for up to 90 days;
  • community control under sanctions, services and conditions the court sets, always including that the child abide by the law during the period;
  • with the victim's assent, participation in a victim-offender mediation program where restitution may be discussed.

For an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, where the child caused, attempted, threatened or risked physical harm to the victim, the court must order a victim impact statement before disposition and consider it.

Commitment to the Department of Youth Services

The most restrictive disposition described on this page is commitment to the Ohio Department of Youth Services for secure confinement under Ohio Revised Code § 2152.16, available only for felony-level acts. For a first- or second-degree felony act not covered by the statute's other divisions, the term is a minimum of one year up to age 21; for a third-, fourth- or fifth-degree felony act, a minimum of six months up to age 21; for an act that would be aggravated murder or murder, until age 21. During the minimum period the court retains control, and the department may not move the child to a nonsecure setting without the court's permission.

Transfer to Adult Court in Ohio

Ohio's statutes draw a line between two kinds of transfer: mandatory and discretionary.

Mandatory transfer. Ohio Revised Code § 2152.10 lists circumstances in which a case must be transferred under § 2152.12. They include certain cases where the child was 16 or older at the time of the act charged, certain cases where the child was 14 or 15 and had previously been adjudicated delinquent for a category one or category two offense and committed to the Department of Youth Services on that basis, and certain category two offenses (with one statutory exception) charged against a child 16 or older who has that kind of prior commitment. Which offenses fall in each category depends on the statute and the facts.

Discretionary transfer. Unless transfer is mandatory, a child 14 or older charged with an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult is eligible for discretionary transfer. Under Ohio Revised Code § 2152.12, the court may transfer only after a hearing and only if it finds all the statute's required conditions, including that the child was 14 or older at the time of the act and that the child is not amenable to care or rehabilitation within the juvenile system and community safety may require adult sanctions. The court must weigh factors for transfer against factors against it, and the record must show which factors it weighed.

Before that amenability hearing, the court must order an investigation of the child's social history, education, family situation and other factors, including a mental examination. The report is due as soon as possible but within 45 calendar days of the order, and the court may grant reasonable extensions.

A transfer ends juvenile court jurisdiction over the acts alleged, and the case goes to the court for criminal prosecution, where adult procedures and penalties apply.

Serious youthful offender cases. Separately, § 2152.13 lets a prosecuting attorney seek a serious youthful offender dispositional sentence while the case stays in juvenile court; the child then has all rights of a person prosecuted for a crime, including counsel, which the child may not waive.

How transfer works elsewhere differs: see Washington juvenile defense or Maryland juvenile defense.

Sealing a Juvenile Record in Ohio

A juvenile record in Ohio does not vanish at 18. Sealing is ordered under Ohio Revised Code § 2151.356; who may seek it, and when, depends on that section and on the court.

What happens after sealing is set out in Ohio Revised Code § 2151.358. The juvenile court must expunge records sealed under § 2151.356 five years after the sealing order or on the person's 23rd birthday, whichever comes first. The person may also apply for earlier expungement, and the court considers factors including the person's age, education and employment history, and other circumstances bearing on rehabilitation. If a party notifies the court that a civil action has been filed based on the case, expungement waits until that action is resolved and no longer subject to appellate review.

Sealing does not mean nothing remains usable. The same section provides that when the nature and character of an offense with which a person is to be charged would be affected by the information, it may be used for the purpose of charging the person.

Parents often ask what a case means for school, college, financial aid and work. Those 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.

Other states handle this differently; Virginia juvenile defense and Pennsylvania juvenile defense describe theirs.

What This Site Covers, and What It Does Not

This page covers delinquency cases: a child accused of an act that would be an offense if committed by an adult. It does not cover adult criminal cases, except where a minor's case is transferred to adult court. It does not cover dependency cases, in which a parent is accused of abuse or neglect, or juvenile traffic matters; those involve different statutes and proceedings. It also does not state another state's rules; California juvenile defense has its own page.

Submitting a Consultation Request

A request typically describes the situation in plain terms: what the child is accused of, the county where the case is pending, whether the child is being held, and any hearing date on the papers. Because juvenile proceedings move on statutory timelines, the dates already set are useful details when describing the case.

Discussing Your Child's Ohio Case

An Ohio case can turn on details a general page cannot reach: whether the act charged is felony-level, the child's age on the date alleged, any prior adjudication, and whether the prosecutor has filed notice of a serious youthful offender case or a transfer. A consultation can cover the complaint, the next hearing date, whether the child is detained and the stage the case has reached. This page does not cover dependency cases or adult prosecutions. To discuss a case like this with an attorney, request a consultation about a child's juvenile case through Juvenile Justice Defense Group.