How Do Juvenile Proceedings Differ From Adult Criminal Proceedings?

Juvenile criminal proceedings differ greatly from adult criminal proceedings. Kansas has very specific guidelines for dealing with juvenile offenders that both parents and minors need to understand as they navigate the legal system when the child is accused of a crime.

While some juvenile offenders and their parents assume judges and courts will show leniency on minors, the truth is that what young people do during lapses of judgement can have long reaching effects on their future. At the Morrison Law Firm, LLC, our juvenile offender attorneys aggressively advocate for the legal rights of our clients to help give them a second chance and move with their lives.

Crimes vs. Delinquent Acts

When minors are arrested, they are not actually charged with a committing crime. Instead, they are charged with committing delinquent acts. However, minors may be charged as adults for very serious crimes like murder and sexual assault.

When minors are arrested in Kansas, they are taken to a Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) for processing. Staff administer an intake questionnaire to suspects to ascertain things like:

• How the suspect is doing in school;
• If the suspect uses drugs or alcohol; and
• Whether the suspect has had any prior run-ins with the law.

No Bail

Unlike adult suspects, juvenile offenders do not have to post bail to be released prior to trial. Instead, they are usually released back into their parents’ custody as they await charges or their court date.

When juveniles commit serious crimes in Kansas, authorities take them to Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF) to await a detention hearing in front of a judge. Juveniles are sent to JDF for felonies like breaking and entering and personal felonies such as threats against another individual.

No Public Trials

In Kansas, juveniles are not afforded public trials. Instead of trials, minors go through adjudication for their crimes. To be sure, defendants are not convicted of crimes but rather adjudicated for their charges.

Depending on the seriousness of the crime, guilty verdicts usually result in punishment such as:

• Standard probation;
• Intensive supervised probation;
• Juvenile Justice Authority (JJA) Custody;
• Direct Commitment to a Juvenile Correctional Facility; or
• Sanction house commitment.

Under certain circumstances however, prosecutors may ask for motions for adult prosecution to treat minor defendants like adults and sentence them to jail time.

Overland Park Criminal Defense Attorneys

If your son or daughter has been charged with a crime, contact The Morrison Law Firm, LLC online or by calling (913) 780-6666. As a former District Attorney and Kansas Attorney General, Paul Morrison knows what it takes to advocate for the rights of the accused and will argue aggressively on behalf of your child.