Juvenile cases
When the person charged is your kid
Children's court runs on different rules, and a good first month can keep a mistake from following a teenager into adult life.
Most juvenile cases begin with a phone call from a parent, often late at night. From there, the case moves fast: an intake meeting, a decision about whether to file a petition, and sometimes a detention hearing within days.
I meet with you and your child together, then with your child alone, and I talk to the probation officer before anyone else does. The aim is usually to keep the case out of court, or to close it in a way that leaves the record sealed.
Cases that bring families here
If it's handled in children's court, I take it.
School fights and threats
A fight on campus, a threat in a group chat, a referral from the school resource officer.
Shoplifting and vandalism
Taking from a store, damage to a car or a wall, a dare that went too far.
Drugs and alcohol
Possession at school or a party, vapes, and the search that found them.
Cars and joyriding
Taking a family car or a friend's, and the damage or chase that came with it.
How a juvenile case moves
Names differ from court to court, but most cases go through these steps.
- 01
Step 1: The referral
Police or a school send the case to juvenile probation. Your child may be released to you or held for a detention hearing.
- 02
Step 2: The intake meeting
A probation officer meets your family and recommends whether to handle it informally or file a petition. I want to be there.
- 03
Step 3: The petition and first hearing
If a petition is filed, your child answers it before a judge. This is where diversion and conditions of release are argued.
- 04
Step 4: The ending
A dismissal, a consent decree, an agreement or a hearing on the facts, and then what it takes to seal the record.
What parents ask about children's court
Will this go on my child's permanent record?
Juvenile records are treated differently from adult ones, and many can be sealed once the case closes. Whether yours can depends on the charge and the ending, and we plan for it from the start.
Should my child talk to the school or the officer?
Not about what happened, and not until we've talked. A school meeting about discipline can be scheduled after.
Who is the client, me or my child?
Your child. You're part of every decision you're allowed to be part of, but what your child tells me in private stays private, which is what protects them.
Call before the intake meeting
It's the first place the case can be steered, and it often happens within a week.