Title: Juvenile Court Processing of Delinquency Cases Series: Fact Sheet Author: Anne L. Stahl Published: April 1999 Subject: Adjudication juvenile cases 3 pages 5,000 bytes Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420. ------------------------------- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention April 1999 #101 Juvenile Court Processing of Delinquency Cases, 1986-1995 by Anne L. Stahl More than half of the delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 1995 were formally processed In 1995, U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 1.7 million cases involving delinquency charges. More than half (55%) of these cases were processed formally, either by filing a delinquency petition in the juvenile court or by waiving the case to criminal court. This Fact Sheet presents national data on delinquency cases processed by juvenile courts from 1986 through 1995. National estimates were generated using information from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive. Nearly 1,800 jurisdictions containing 67% of the U.S. juvenile population contributed data for these estimates. The number of formally processed delinquency cases increased 69% between 1986 and 1995 Between 1986 and 1995, the delinquency caseload of U.S. juvenile courts increased 45%. The number of cases formally processed by juvenile courts rose from 554,000 to 938,400 during this time period, while the number of cases handled informally (without a petition or court hearing) increased 24%. Between 1986 and 1992, juvenile courts handled a greater number of delinquency cases informally, although the proportion remained fairly steady from 1989 to 1992. Beginning in 1993, formally processed delinquency cases outnumbered those handled informally. By 1995, the formal delinquency caseload exceeded the informal caseload by 21%. The likelihood of formal processing for delinquency cases in general increased from 47% to 55% between 1986 and 1995. The largest relative changes were in formal processing of liquor law violation cases (from 28% to 54%) and weapons offense cases (from 46% to 64%). The proportion of cases formally processed did not change substantially for cases involving charges of forcible rape and arson, and for aggravated assault cases the proportion actually dropped from 64% to 60%. In nearly one-third of the delinquency cases referred to juvenile courts, the youth was adjudicated delinquent or waived to criminal court A youth may be adjudicated delinquent because he or she admits to the charges or because the court finds sufficient evidence to judge the youth delinquent. Adjudication in juvenile court and waiver to criminal court are considered the most serious court actions in delinquency cases. Only 1% of formally processed cases were waived to criminal court in 1995. Despite increases in the use of formal processing, the proportion of delinquency cases that were either adjudicated or waived to criminal court did not change substantially. Adjudications and waivers represented 29% to 32% of the delinquency cases each year from 1986 to 1995. In 1995, drug cases were the most likely to result in adjudication or waiver (36%) and property cases were the least likely (30%). For further information This Fact Sheet is based on the report Juvenile Court Statistics 1995. Copies are available from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, 800-638-8736. OJJDP also supports distribution of a PC-compatible software version of the data analyzed in Juvenile Court Statistics. For a free copy of the software, Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics, call the National Juvenile Court Data Archive at the National Center for Juvenile Justice, 412-227-6950. This software can also be downloaded from OJJDP's home page: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org. ------------------------------- Anne L. Stahl is the Manager of Data Collection for the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is supported by an OJJDP grant. ------------------------------- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. FS-99101