Title: Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1989-1998



Series: Fact Sheet



Author: Meghan C. Black



Published: August 2001



Subject: Juvenile courts; Adjudication juvenile

cases; Case processing



4 pages



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Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1989-1998



by Meghan C. Black



Person offenses accounted for 23% of all 

delinquency cases in 1998



In 1998, U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated

403,800 delinquency cases in which the most serious

charge was an offense against a person. Person

offenses include assault, robbery, rape, and

homicide. The 1998 person offense caseload was 88%

greater than in 1989. Person offense cases accounted

for 23% of all delinquency cases in 1998, compared

with 18% in 1989.



In 1998, U.S. juvenile courts handled 13.9 person

offense cases for every 1,000 juveniles age 10

through the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction.

The person offense case rate increased 64% between

1989 and 1998. In contrast, the case rate for

property offenses decreased 4% between 1989 and 1998,

while the drug offense case rate grew 115% and the

rate for public order offenses increased 51%.



Homicide was the most serious charge in 2,000 cases

handled in 1998. This was less than 0.5% of all

person offense cases handled by juvenile courts in

1998. The majority of person offense cases involved

charges of simple assault (262,400) or aggravated

assault (65,100). Together, these two offenses

accounted for 81% of all person offense cases

processed in 1998.



Characteristics of offenders



Compared with 1989, juveniles involved in person

offense cases in 1998 were younger and more likely to

be female. In 1998, 64% of person offense cases

involved juveniles younger than 16 years old,

compared with 62% in 1989. Females were involved in

28% of person offense cases in 1998, compared with

20% in 1989. More than half (62%) of person offense

cases in 1998 involved white youth, 35% involved

black youth, and 3% involved youth of other races.



Case processing



Of the 403,800 person offense cases disposed by U.S.

juvenile courts in 1998, 59% (236,500) were handled

formally (that is, a petition was filed requesting an

adjudicatory or transfer hearing). Of these

petitioned cases, slightly more than 1% (2,900) were

waived to the criminal justice system, more than half

(61% or 143,800) were formally adjudicated delinquent

in the juvenile justice system, and 38% (92,700) were

petitioned but not adjudicated delinquent.



In 27% (39,300) of the 143,800 person offense cases

formally adjudicated by juvenile courts in 1998, the

most severe disposition imposed by the court was

placement out of the home in a residential facility.

Probation was ordered in 58% (83,000) of the cases,

while 9% (13,300) resulted in other sanctions,

including referral to an outside agency, fines,

community service, and restitution. Approximately 6%

(8,200) of formally adjudicated person offense cases

were released (i.e., no sanctions were ordered at the

adjudicatory hearing).





In 1998, an estimated 92,700 person offense cases

were formally petitioned by the court but not

adjudicated. Most (69% or 64,300) of these cases were

dismissed. In 13% (12,500) of these petitioned cases,

the youth agreed to informal probation; 12% (10,800)

of these cases resulted in other dispositions. About

2% of nonadjudicated person offense cases resulted in

voluntary out-of-home placement.



Almost half (48% or 80,400) of the 167,300 person

offense cases handled informally (no petition was

filed) by juvenile courts in 1998 were dismissed. The

remainder resulted in voluntary probation (34% or

56,600) or other dispositions (18% or 30,000), while

a small number (less than 1% or about 300) resulted

in out-of-home placement.



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For further information



This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report

Juvenile Court Statistics 1998, which will be

available on OJJDP's Web site at ojjdp.ncjrs.org. To

learn more about juvenile court cases, visit OJJDP's

Statistical Briefing Book (ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/

index.html) and click on "Juveniles in court." OJJDP

also supports Easy Access to Juvenile Court

Statistics, a Web-based application that analyzes the

data files used for the Juvenile Court Statistics

Report. This application is available from the

Statistical Briefing Book.



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Meghan C. Black, Esq., is a Research Assistant with

the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is

supported by an OJJDP grant.



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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.







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FS 200132