Data came from official records in each jurisdiction. The juvenile courts disposed of an estimated 1.3 million delinquency and status offense cases in 1984, a 5-percent increase over 1983. Nearly half of the cases involved a primary charge of a property offense. About 1 in 10 cases involved an offense against the person, and about 1 in 20 involved a drug offense. About 1 in 5 cases involved a status offense. More than 80 percent of all delinquency offense cases were referred by law enforcement agencies. Youth in 20 percent of all delinquency and status offense cases disposed were securely detained at some point between referral to court and disposition. Each year from 1975 through 1984, more than half of all the cases were handled without the filing of a petition. Males were responsible for about four-fifths of all the delinquency cases, but the proportions of males and females varied greatly for specific status offenses. Youths below age 16 were responsible for 59 percent of all cases processed by the juvenile courts. Figures, tables, footnotes, and appended glossary, methodological information, and additional tables.