Washington Juvenile Defense: What Happens When a Minor Is Charged

When a minor is charged in Washington, the case is generally heard in juvenile court, where a judge decides whether the charge is proved and what disposition follows. A detained child gets a detention hearing within days, some cases can be resolved through diversion, and a narrower group can move to adult court.

Most people reading this page are parents or guardians who received an unexpected phone call: a son or daughter has been picked up by police, is in juvenile detention, or has been handed papers with a court date on them. The pressing questions are usually what happens in the next 72 hours, whether the child comes home tonight, what this means for school, and whether one bad day will follow a teenager for years. Washington's juvenile statutes answer more of these questions than many parents expect.

This page walks through a Washington juvenile case in the order it usually unfolds: who juvenile court covers, detention, questioning, the court process, diversion, transfer to adult court, and records.

How Washington's Juvenile Court System Works

Washington's juvenile court has jurisdiction when a person is under 21 at the time the charge is filed and is accused of an offense that occurred before age 18, except as RCW 13.04.030 and RCW 13.40.110 provide, according to RCW 13.40.300. The same section states that the juvenile court has no jurisdiction over offenses alleged to have been committed by a person 18 or older. The child's age on the date of the alleged offense is therefore the starting point, not the age at arrest.

Washington uses its own vocabulary:

• Information. In Washington juvenile court, the formal charging document is called an information. Many other states call it a petition. Either way, it is the paper that starts the court case and lists what the child is accused of.
• Adjudication. The court's finding that the child committed the alleged offense. Washington's statutes say a juvenile is "adjudicated" of an offense; they do not use the word conviction for this finding.
• Disposition. The outcome the court orders after an adjudication. Washington's statutes speak of an "order of disposition," not a sentence.

Juvenile systems differ from state to state. The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention notes in its glossary entry on upper age of jurisdiction that "States vary in terms of their upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction" and that within most states there are exceptions sending some younger people to adult court. The Washington rules described here apply only in Washington; the California juvenile defense overview and the Pennsylvania juvenile defense overview describe how those states handle the same steps.

Arrest, Detention, and the First Hearing

A detention hearing is the court hearing that decides whether a child taken into custody stays in juvenile detention or is released while the case goes forward. Washington sets its timing in RCW 13.40.050. When a juvenile taken into custody is held in detention, an information must be filed within seventy-two hours, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excluded, or the juvenile shall be released. The detention hearing must then be held within seventy-two hours, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excluded, from the time the information is filed, to determine whether continued detention is necessary under RCW 13.40.040, the section that sets the grounds for detention.

The parent's role

Notice of the hearing, stating its time, place and purpose, stating the right to counsel, and requiring attendance, goes to the parent, guardian or custodian if that person can be found, and to the juvenile if over twelve. A parent notified who fails without reasonable cause to appear and abide by the court's order may be proceeded against for contempt; the court may consider all factors relevant to the person's ability to appear. If the parent is available, the court must consult them before deciding to further detain or release the child, or to treat the case as a diversion case.

What happens at the hearing

At the start of the hearing, the court advises the parties of their rights and appoints counsel as the chapter specifies. If detention is not necessary, the court imposes the most appropriate release conditions, or a combination of them. Some states call supervised release at home "home supervision"; in Washington, release takes the form of these court-set conditions, and a juvenile may be released only to a responsible adult or the department.

A Minor's Rights During Police Questioning in Washington

Under RCW 13.40.140, a juvenile shall be accorded the same privilege against self-incrimination as an adult, along with the protections in RCW 13.40.740, Washington's separate provision on juveniles and police questioning. The privilege against self-incrimination is the constitutional right not to be made a witness against oneself, which is the source of the right to remain silent.

What can be used in court

• An out-of-court statement that would be constitutionally inadmissible in a criminal proceeding may not be received in evidence at an adjudicatory hearing over objection.
• Evidence illegally seized or obtained, including evidence obtained in violation of RCW 13.40.740, may not be received over objection to prove the allegations if it would be inadmissible in an adult criminal proceeding.
• An admission or confession made out of court is not enough, by itself, to support a finding that the juvenile committed the acts alleged, unless evidence of a corpus delicti (independent proof that the offense occurred) is first established the same way an adult case requires.

The right to counsel

RCW 13.40.140 states that the juvenile and parent must be advised that the juvenile has a right to be represented by counsel at all critical stages of the proceedings. Unless waived, counsel shall be provided to a juvenile financially unable to obtain counsel without substantial hardship to the juvenile or the family, in any proceeding where the juvenile may be subject to transfer for criminal prosecution or may be in danger of confinement. The ability to pay part of the cost does not preclude assignment, and a juvenile may not be deprived of counsel because a parent refuses to pay.

The Juvenile Court Process: From Petition to Disposition

The federal OJJDP case flow overview describes juvenile cases nationally as moving through "a common series of decision points," while noting that processing "often varies from community to community." In Washington, the stages generally run as follows.

Filing. The prosecutor files an information (the Washington equivalent of a petition) setting out the alleged offense.

Diversion. Diversion is a way of resolving a case outside formal prosecution. Under RCW 13.40.080, a diversion agreement is a contract between the juvenile and a diversion unit in which the juvenile agrees to fulfill certain conditions in lieu of prosecution. It may be entered into only after the prosecutor, or a probation counselor, has determined that probable cause exists to believe a crime was committed and the juvenile committed it. A parent or guardian cannot decline a diversion agreement on the juvenile's behalf and cannot prevent the juvenile from entering one. Conditions are limited to those the statute lists, including community restitution of no more than 150 hours, not performed during school hours if the juvenile attends school. The time to complete an agreement may be extended by six months at the juvenile's request; if restitution to a victim is still unpaid after that, the case is referred to juvenile court for a civil order setting the amount owed, with a payment plan of up to 10 years where the court finds the juvenile lacks the means to pay sooner.

Adjudicatory hearing. If the case is not diverted, the adjudicatory hearing (in some states called a jurisdiction hearing) is the trial, where the court decides whether the facts alleged are proved. RCW 13.40.140 requires that all proceedings be transcribed verbatim.

Disposition. If the court adjudicates the child, it enters a disposition. Depending on the offense and the child's history, that can range from supervision in the community to commitment to the department for placement in a juvenile rehabilitation facility. RCW 13.40.300 states that the juvenile court may not commit a juvenile offender to the department beyond the 21st birthday, except that commitment may extend:

• up to the 25th birthday for an A++ category offense or a firearm finding carrying an additional 12 months;
• up to the 23rd birthday for first- or second-degree murder committed at 14 or older, or first-degree rape committed at 15 or older;
• up to the 23rd birthday, to serve a standard range disposition, for a juvenile who is 18 or older at adjudication.

The statute uses "standard range disposition" without this page setting out how that range is calculated for a given offense.

"Ward of the court" is a term some states use for a minor placed under the juvenile court's continuing authority. Washington's statutes cited here describe that authority instead through dispositions, community supervision and commitment to the department.

When a Case Can Be Transferred to Adult Court

Washington has two separate routes to adult court, and they work very differently: one is a decision a judge makes after a hearing, the other applies automatically to certain charges.

The decline hearing. Washington's transfer hearing is called a decline hearing: the juvenile court decides whether to decline its own jurisdiction and send the case for adult criminal prosecution. Under RCW 13.40.110, the prosecutor, the respondent or the court on its own motion may, before a hearing on the merits, move for transfer, and the matter is set for a decline hearing only if:

• the respondent was at least 15 at the time of the alleged offense and is charged with a serious violent offense;
• the respondent was 14 or younger and is charged with first- or second-degree murder; or
• the respondent is any age, is charged with custodial assault, and is already serving a minimum juvenile sentence to age 21.

A decline hearing is mandatory, unless waived by the court, the parties and counsel, when the information alleges an escape by a respondent serving a minimum juvenile sentence to age 21.

What the court weighs. After the hearing, the court may order transfer upon finding that declination would be in the best interest of the juvenile or the public. In reaching that finding, the statute directs the court to consider the relevant reports, facts, opinions and arguments presented by the parties and their counsel. Whether the case is transferred or kept in juvenile court, the court must set out its findings in writing either way.

Exclusive adult jurisdiction. Separately, under RCW 13.04.030, where "the juvenile is 16 or 17 years old on the date the alleged offense is committed," the adult criminal court "shall have exclusive original jurisdiction," subject to exceptions the statute lists, when the alleged offense is: a serious violent offense; a violent offense where the juvenile has a specified criminal history (one or more prior serious violent offenses; two or more prior violent offenses; or three or more of any combination of class A felonies, class B felonies, vehicular assault or second-degree manslaughter, all committed after the 13th birthday and prosecuted separately); or first-degree rape of a child. Among the exceptions, the prosecutor and respondent may agree to juvenile court jurisdiction and, with the court's approval, remove the proceeding back to juvenile court.

A case prosecuted in adult court follows adult criminal procedure and carries adult consequences, which are different from a juvenile disposition. This page covers adult court only as far as a minor's case is transferred there.

Sealing a Juvenile Record in Washington

Sealing means a court order that limits who can see and use a record; it does not erase the record or make the case disappear. Parents often hear that juvenile records "go away" at 18. This page does not treat any birthday as a sealing date. Whether a Washington juvenile record can be sealed, when, and on what conditions depends on the offense, how the case ended, and the requirements Washington law sets, and the same is true of what sealing does once ordered.

How the case ended matters here, which is one reason the earlier stages carry weight. A case resolved by diversion, a case ending in an adjudication, and a case prosecuted in adult court each leave a different kind of record.

Beyond the court file, a juvenile case can carry other consequences: school discipline, college admissions, financial aid and employment. Those consequences depend on the facts and on rules this page does not cover. Immigration consequences are governed by immigration law, which this page does not cover.

What This Site Covers — and What It Does Not

Juvenile Justice Defense Group provides information about how juvenile cases move through Washington's juvenile court. Its pages cover the stages a child's case passes through: questioning, arrest, detention, charging, diversion, adjudication, disposition, transfer to adult court and records. Washington's rules appear here as Washington's; other states have their own, such as those described in the Sacramento County juvenile defense page for one California county.

This site does not cover adult criminal cases (except where a minor's case is transferred to adult court), dependency proceedings in which a parent is accused of abuse or neglect, or school discipline that involves no criminal charge or police involvement. It does not provide legal advice, predict how any case will turn out, or guarantee any result.

The full disclaimer appears at the foot of this page.

Talking Through a Child's Washington Case

A Washington juvenile case turns on details that move quickly: whether an information has been filed, when the detention hearing falls inside the 72-hour window, whether diversion is available, and whether the charge and the child's age bring a decline hearing or adult-court jurisdiction into play. A consultation can cover the charge, the hearing dates, whether the child is detained, and the stage the case has reached. This page explains Washington's process in general terms; it does not cover dependency matters or adult cases that began in adult court.

To discuss a Washington case with an attorney, you can request a consultation about a child's juvenile case through Juvenile Justice Defense Group.