The term 'status offender' is applied only to those engaging in behavior described in State legislation that defines as delinquent a child who is 'habitually truant from school' or who is 'uncontrolled by his parent, guardian or other custodian by reason of being wayward or habitually disobedient.' Data were collected on 329 status offense cases involving 286 juveniles in a 10-county sample from July 1, 1979, to June 30, 1980. In the entire State, between 1,825 and 2,125 status offense cases are estimated to have been handled by juvenile courts during the study period. This accounts for about 4-6 percent of the delinquency petitions filed in the outstate counties and 10-15 percent of the petitions filed in metropolitan counties. There was an unequal distribution of status offense cases among counties, coupled with inconsistency in the criteria used to select cases for court intervention. Females accounted for 61.7 percent of the cases and 69.2 percent of those charged with running away or incorrigibility. Despite strict statutory limits on the detention of status offenders, a substantial number of cases (35) exceeded the statutory limit. The average length of detention in these cases was 10.05 days. Status offenders are frequently, perhaps more than criminal offenders, placed out of the home. The study did not assess the appropriateness of the disposition in each case. Tabular data are provided on distribution of cases by county, sex and age of sample, behavior described on initial petition, number of petitions considered per case, prior delinquency record, type of placement, proportion of juveniles placed by demographic and legal variables, and differences in male and female placement rates. (Author summary modified)