Juvenile transfer is the legal process that moves a minor's case out of juvenile court and into adult criminal court. Where a prosecutor or intake officer asks for a waiver, a judge decides after a hearing. Some states instead let a prosecutor file certain cases in adult court, or exclude certain offenses from juvenile court by law.

This page walks through how transfer works across the United States, using California's rule as the worked example and saying plainly where it is only California's rule.

What Juvenile Transfer to Adult Court Means

Transfer, also called waiver, is the step by which a juvenile court gives up its authority over a minor's case so the case can be prosecuted in adult criminal court. That authority is called jurisdiction: the court's power to hear and decide the case.

The two courts use different language for a reason. In juvenile court, the case starts with a petition, the court document that sets out what the minor is alleged to have done. The court holds an adjudication hearing, its version of a trial, and if the allegation is found true it makes a disposition, the court's order about what happens next. The minor may be made a ward of the court, meaning the court takes ongoing responsibility for supervising the child. The OJJDP case flow overview notes that this language differs from criminal court, where a person is convicted and sentenced.

As the Supreme Court has described them, the juvenile court's objectives are "to provide measures of guidance and rehabilitation for the child and protection for society." In Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541 (1966), the U.S. Supreme Court held that, under the District of Columbia's juvenile court statute read in light of due process and the assistance of counsel, a waiver of juvenile jurisdiction required a hearing, access by the minor's counsel to the records the court considered, and a statement of reasons. Ages, eligible offenses and procedures differ from state to state.

The Three Mechanisms States Use to Transfer Cases

Three broad routes carry a case from juvenile court to adult court, and a state may use more than one. The OJJDP case flow overview stresses that each state's processing is unique, and that practice can vary even from community to community within a state.

Judicial waiver. The case starts in juvenile court. The prosecutor or an intake officer files a waiver petition, and a juvenile court judge holds a hearing and decides whether to give up jurisdiction. This is the kind of decision Kent addressed.

Prosecutorial direct file. According to OJJDP, in a growing number of states the legislature has given prosecutors discretion to file a defined list of cases in either juvenile or adult court. Both courts have original jurisdiction over those cases, which is why this route is also called concurrent jurisdiction.

Statutory exclusion. OJJDP also describes states where prosecutors are required to file certain, generally serious, cases in criminal court because the legislature has decided those cases belong there. This is sometimes called legislative exclusion.

What a Judicial Waiver Hearing Examines

A waiver hearing is not a trial about whether the minor did what the petition alleges. It asks a narrower question: should the juvenile court keep this case, or should adult court take it?

Kent v. United States attached to its opinion a juvenile court policy memorandum listing the factors the judge would consider, including the seriousness of the alleged offense, the sophistication and maturity of the juvenile, the juvenile's record and previous history, and the prospects for protecting the public and the likelihood of reasonable rehabilitation. OJJDP's overview explains that the decision generally centers on whether the youth is amenable to treatment in the juvenile system, and that the court first reviews the facts and finds probable cause to believe the youth committed the act.

If the judge grants waiver, the case is filed in criminal court; if the judge denies it, the case goes forward in juvenile court.

How California Handles Transfer: Welf. & Inst. Code § 707

What follows is California's rule under Welf. & Inst. Code § 707, not a rule for other states. California's statute describes judicial waiver: the prosecutor makes a motion and the juvenile court decides.

Under § 707, the district attorney may move to transfer a minor who was 16 or older at the time of an offense listed in subdivision (b) "or any other felony criminal statute." A second path covers a person who was 14 or 15 at the time of a subdivision (b) offense but was not apprehended before juvenile court jurisdiction ended. The motion must be made "prior to the attachment of jeopardy."

The subdivision (b) list includes murder, attempted murder, robbery, certain forcible sex offenses, kidnapping for ransom, assault with a firearm or destructive device, and voluntary manslaughter, among others.

Once the motion is made, the court orders a probation report on the minor's "behavioral patterns and social history," including any statement from the victim. The court must consider the criteria in subparagraphs (A) to (E) of § 707(a)(3), including "the degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor." To transfer, 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 recite the basis for its decision in an order entered upon the minutes, including the reasons supporting that finding. A plea to the petition is postponed until the transfer hearing ends. More on this hearing appears in our guide to when a juvenile is tried as an adult.

What Changes When a Case Moves to Adult Court

The vocabulary changes first. In adult court, the minor faces criminal charges rather than a petition, a finding of guilt is a conviction rather than an adjudication, and the court imposes a sentence rather than a disposition. Those words carry real differences in how the case is handled.

An adult conviction creates an adult criminal record, which is separate from a juvenile record and governed by different relief rules. This page does not predict any sentence or outcome.

Consequences can also follow for school discipline, employment, college admissions and financial aid; those 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 the Prosecution May Argue at a Waiver Hearing

The OJJDP case flow overview says the prosecution may argue that the youth has been adjudicated several times before and that interventions ordered by the juvenile court have not kept the youth from committing later criminal acts, or that the offense is so serious that the juvenile court is unlikely to be able to intervene for the time needed to rehabilitate the youth.

For the wider picture of how juvenile cases move from arrest onward, see the juvenile court process.

What Happens to a Minor's Juvenile Record After Transfer

A case that is transferred and ends in an adult conviction produces an adult criminal record, separate from any juvenile record. Juvenile sealing laws apply to juvenile records. An adult conviction is handled under adult expungement or sealing rules, which vary by state. Under Welf. & Inst. Code § 781, sealing requires a petition to the court; it does not happen automatically at 18.

For cases that stay in juvenile court, California's sealing rules sit in Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 781, 786 and 786.5. Under § 786, when a ward satisfactorily completes probation, the court "shall order the petition dismissed" and seal the records, though not where the petition was sustained for a subdivision (b) offense committed at 14 or older, unless the finding on that offense was dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor or to a lesser offense that is not listed in subdivision (b). Section 786 also requires sealing when a petition is dismissed or not sustained. Under § 786.5, the probation department seals records after satisfactory completion of diversion, a program that resolves the matter without a petition being filed.

Section 781 lets a person petition for sealing five years after juvenile jurisdiction ends, or at any time after turning 18, if the court 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 satisfaction of the court; certain offenses listed in subdivision (b) of § 707 carry added limits. Sealing rules differ from state to state, and this page does not cover every state's rules. More on how cases begin is in how juvenile crimes are handled.

If You'd Like to Talk Through a Possible Transfer

To request a consultation about a child's juvenile case, contact Juvenile Justice Defense Group.