See Staff Directory for a list of Public Defenders in this Division

How Children Get to Juvenile Court

Most children under 18 years old who are arrested or break the law will have their case in juvenile court. They may be there because of a delinquent offense or a status offense. Examples of delinquent offenses include shoplifting, battery, and driving a car without a license, along with many other crimes that can also be committed by adults. Examples of status offenses are truancy from school, curfew violations, underage drinking, and running away from home. Only children can commit status offenses.

If a child is referred to juvenile court, a lot of different things can happen. Sometimes the child can decide to do an informal plan with probation instead of going in front of a judge. Other times, the child does have to go before a judge. The judge can decide whether to close a case, put a child on probation, or send a child to the Department of Correction. The judge can order the child to do things like counseling, community service work, meet with a mentor, go to school, or even go to a secure facility.

Every child has a right to an attorney. It is very important that an attorney or public defender is assigned to represent every child in juvenile court. The attorney’s job is to talk to the child, investigate the case and try to get the outcome that the child wants. The attorney works for the child. The conversations between the attorney and the child are confidential. This means that the attorney is not allowed to tell anyone this information unless the child tells them they can.

Juvenile findings do not go away when a child turns 18. These records stay in a computer system until you ask for them to be deleted, or expunged.

More Information

To learn more about Indiana’s Juvenile Justice System, check out this guide prepared by the Youth Law T.E.A.M. of Indiana:

English http://youthlawteam.org/files/2015%20Parent's%20Guide.pdf

Spanish http://youthlawteam.org/files/Parent's%20Guide%202015%20edits_SP%20rev.pdf

** THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS WEBPAGE HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND NEITHER INTENDS NOR CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE. THE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBPAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND MAY NOT BE THE MOST UP TO DATE. ACCESS OR USE OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS WEBPAGE, OR ANY OF THE LINKS OR RESOURCES CONTAINED WITHIN, DOES NOT ESTABLISH AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP WITH ANY LAWYER EMPLOYED OR CONTRACTED BY THE VANDERBURGH COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER AGENCY. THIS WEBPAGE CONTAINS LINKS TO OTHER THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND SERVICES. THE VANDERBURGH COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER AGENCY HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENT OR AVAILABILITY OF SUCH THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES OR SERVICES. **