Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court: An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions

Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court:
An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions
Report, December 1998

Patrick Griffin
Patricia Torbet
Linda Szymanski
National Center for Juvenile Justice

Shay Bilchik, Administrator
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Table of Contents

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Transfer Provisions

Waiver

Direct File

Statutory Exclusion

Reverse Waiver

Once an Adult/Always an Adult
Additional Analyses

Transfer for Nonviolent Offenses

Additional Pretransfer Findings Required

Clear and Convincing Evidence Standard

Special Transfer Treatment Based on Prior Record

Devices To Limit Prosecutorial Discretion

Minimum Age Provisions
Appendix: Summary of Transfer Laws
Share With Your Colleagues
Publications From OJJDP

List of Tables

Most States Have a Combination of Transfer Provisions
Summary of Transfer Provisions, 1997
Discretionary Waiver: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997
Mandatory Waiver: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997
Presumptive Waiver: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997
Direct File: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997
Statutory Exclusion: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997
Minimum Age and Offenses for Which a Juvenile Can Be Transferred

to Criminal Court in Every State, 1997
Lowest Age of Criminal Responsibility/Criminal Court Jurisdiction, 1997
Lowest Age for Original Juvenile Court Jurisdiction in Delinquency Matters, 1997

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
810 Seventh Street NW.
Washington, DC 20531

Janet Reno
Attorney General

Raymond C. Fisher
Associate Attorney General

Laurie Robinson
Assistant Attorney General

Shay Bilchik
Administrator
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

This report was prepared by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, the research division of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and was supported by cooperative agreement number 95-JN-FX-K003 with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

Suggested citation: Griffin, P., Torbet, P., and Szymanski, L. 1998. Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court: An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

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.

NCJ 172836

Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court: An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions December 1998