Chapter 4: Juvenile justice system structure and process
87
State statutes define who is under the jurisdiction of juvenile
court
Statutes set age limits for original
jurisdiction of the juvenile court
In most states, the juvenile court has
original jurisdiction over all youth
charged with a law violation who were
younger than age 18 at the time of the
offense, arrest, or referral to court. Be-
tween 1975 and 2000, four states
changed their upper age: Alabama
raised its upper age to 16 in 1976 and
to 17 in 1977; Wyoming lowered its
upper age to 17 in 1993; and New
Hampshire and Wisconsin lowered
their upper age to 16 in 1996.
Since 2000, 10 states have passed laws
raising their upper age of original juve-
nile court jurisdiction: Connecticut
raised its upper age from 15 to 17 by
July 2012; Massachusetts raised its age
to 17 in 2013; Illinois made the age
17 for all but the most violent felonies
by 2014; New Hampshire’s age be-
came 17 in 2015; South Carolina’s
change to 17 passed in 2016 but it did
not take effect until 2019; New York
raised its age from 15 to 16 in 2018
and to 17 in 2019; North Carolina
also raised its age from 15 to 17 at the
end of 2019; Louisiana raised its age to
17 for all but the most violent felonies
by 2019 (and for all crimes by 2020);
Michigan’s law passed in 2019 raising
the age to 17, but did not take effect
until 2020; and Missouri’s law passed
in 2018 raising the age to 17, but the
effective date was not until 2021.
Oldest age for original juvenile court juris-
diction in delinquency matters, 2019:
Age State
16 Georgia, Michigan, Missouri,
Texas, Wisconsin
17 All other states and the District of
Columbia
Vermont has gone further raising its
upper age to 18 in 2020, and through
age 19, effective in 2022. Though the
implementation is pending, the defini-
tion of a juvenile proceeding in Ver-
mont under another law will allow ju-
venile jurisdiction to be sought
through youthful offender provisions
(blended sentencing) for youth
through age 21.
Many states have higher upper ages of
juvenile court jurisdiction in status of-
fense, abuse, neglect, or dependency
matters—typically through age 20. The
juvenile court may have original juris-
diction over young adults who commit-
ted offenses before they became adults.
As of the end of the 2019 legislative
session, 30 states and the District of
Columbia set no minimum age for de-
linquency matters in statute and 20
states had statutes that set the lowest
age of juvenile court delinquency juris-
diction. Four of these are states that
previously had no lower age set and
one state, Massachusetts, raised its
lower age from 7 to 12. States without
a set minimum age rely on case law or
common law. Children younger than a
certain age are presumed to be incapa-
ble of criminal intent and are exempt
from prosecution and punishment.
Youngest age for original juvenile court
jurisdiction in delinquency matters, 2019:
Age State
6 North Carolina
7 Connecticut, Maryland, New York
8 Arizona
10 Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas,
Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi,
North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South
Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin
11 Nebraska
12 California, Massachusetts
States often have statutory exceptions
to basic age criteria, such as excluding
married or otherwise emancipated
youth from juvenile court jurisdiction.
Other exceptions, related to the
youth’s age, alleged offense, and/or
prior court history, place certain youth
under the original jurisdiction of the
criminal court. In some states, a com-
bination of the youth’s age, offense,
and prior record places the youth
under the original jurisdiction of both
the juvenile and criminal courts. In
these states, the prosecutor has the au-
thority to decide which court will ini-
tially handle the case.
Juvenile court authority over
youth may extend beyond the
upper age of original jurisdiction
Through extended jurisdiction provi-
sions, legislatures enable the court to
provide services and sanctions for a pe-
riod of time that is in the best interests
of the youth and the public, even for
youth who have reached the age at
which original juvenile court jurisdic-
tion ends. As of the end of the 2019
legislative session, statutes in 34 states
extend juvenile court jurisdiction in
delinquency cases to the 21st birthday.
Oldest age over which the juvenile court
may retain jurisdiction for disposition
purposes in delinquency matters, 2019:
Age State
18 Oklahoma, Texas
19 Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota
20 Alabama, Arizona,* Arkansas,
Delaware, District of Columbia,
Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, Nevada,** New
Hampshire, New Mexico, North
Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Utah, Virginia, Washington, West
Virginia, Wyoming
21 South Carolina, Vermont
22 Kansas, New York
24 California, Montana, Oregon,
Wisconsin
*** Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, New
Jersey
Notes: Extended jurisdiction may be restrict-
ed to certain offenses or youth.
*Arizona statute extends jurisdiction through
age 20, but the state Supreme Court held in
1979 that juvenile court jurisdiction ends at
18.
**Until the full term of the disposition order
for sex offenders.
***Until the full term of the disposition order.
In some states, juvenile courts may im-
pose adult correctional sanctions on
certain youth adjudicated delinquent
that extend the term of confinement
well beyond the upper age of juvenile
jurisdiction—this is known as blended
sentencing.