Juvenile Court Process 1 Checkpoint: Juvenile Court Process CJS/220 Juvenile Court Process 2 Juvenile Court Process The court process for juvenile offenders is similar to the adult process, yet has some significant differences. Juvenile courts handle matters concerning children including neglect, delinquency, and adoption.

In addition, juvenile courts handle status offenses such as, runaways and truancy, which is not suitable for adult courts. Most juvenile offenders are send to juvenile courts by law enforcement officials, but social service agencies, neighbors, school officials, and even parents send offenders as well because of certain circumstances or behaviors that require intervention. Once juveniles are sent to the courts, the prosecution determines if sufficient evidence exists for filing a request for an adjudicatory hearing or a request to transfer the case to an adult court (Meyer & Grant, 2003).

All states allow juvenile offenders to be tried as adults under special circumstances. However, many states exclude certain serious offenses from the jurisdiction of juvenile courts no matter the circumstances or age of the wrongdoer. In cases in which the juvenile court keeps jurisdiction, the case is either handled formally or informally. If the case is handled formally a delinquency petition will be filed. If the case is handled informally the offender will be redirected to other programs and agencies for further court processing.

In addition, when disposing of cases, juvenile courts seem to provide more discretion than that of adult courts. However, despite the discretion of the juvenile court proceedings, juveniles are given many of the due process safeguards as the adult court proceedings. Juvenile courts have more options available than that of adult courts, and state laws give juvenile courts the authority to remove children from their homes and place the children in foster care or treatment facilities (LawInfo, 1995-2011).

Also, juvenile courts may order offenders to take part in programs aimed at preventing certain actions or place in counseling for certain behaviors. However, once a juvenile is placed under the deposition of the juvenile court, the court may keep that jurisdiction until the juvenile becomes an adult. In some cases the juvenile may be considered a youthful offender, which can lead to extended sentences. After a juvenile is released however, he or she is usually ordered to a period of aftercare, which is similar to supervised parole or probation in adult courts.

If a juvenile violates his or her aftercare conditions than just as an adult offender his or her aftercare will be revoked, which will result in him or her being recommitted to a facility. However, youthful offenders who violate their aftercare conditions may be sanctioned as an adult. The juvenile court process and adult court process seem to be similar but have a few differences such as, sentencing, punishment, and rehabilitation services.

Juvenile courts seem to rehabilitate more offenders and hand out lesser sentencing and punishment recommendations than that of adult courts. However, juvenile courts handle some matters the same as adult courts such as, violating conditions of after care. In my opinion juvenile courts should have these differences from adult courts because juvenile courts are dealing and handling cases concerning children, and adult courts are dealing with offenders of an age that should know right from wrong.

However, I do believe that there are certain crimes in which no matter the age of the accused the same sentences and punishment should be considered, if not used. Reference Meyer, J. F. , & Grant, D. R. (2003). The Courts in Our Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from https://portal. phoenix. edu/classroom/coursematerials/cjs_220/20110822/. LawInfo, (1995-2011). Juvenile Court Process and System. Retrieved from https://www. lawinfo. com