Under Utah law, a juvenile is someone who is under the age of 21 and has broken or violated the law – whether the law is local, state, or federal – before their eighteenth birthday. Youths under the age of fourteen are not responsible for criminal conduct or the violation of laws.
When a juvenile commits a crime, the case is taken and tried before the juvenile court system, and only under extraordinary circumstances (such as a juvenile being charged with murder) would a juvenile case be taken and tried in the district courts (where criminal trials for adults are held). Generally speaking, the parents of a juvenile charged with a crime cannot be charged for the child unless they were complicit or aided in completing the offense.
The juvenile court system is designed to help juveniles avoid incarceration and stop them from heading down the path to further criminal activity. As a result, the juvenile justice system is classed as a civil court, instead of a criminal court, and the decisions made there are focused upon rehabilitation and change instead of punishment. However, just because the juvenile system’s primary goal is rehabilitation does not mean that penalties decided there will not be harsh and/or have life-long consequences and repercussions for the juvenile.
Being charged with a crime is a serious matter at any age, but having a criminal record from such a young age can lead to life-long problems for future employment, schooling, and housing; even obtaining certain professional certifications can become difficult. Although a juvenile conviction is referred to as ‘adjudication’ and is technically not classed as a conviction at all, employers and others can ask to see your records. They may play a role in decisions that are then made.
If your child has been charged with a violation of the law and is being remanded into juvenile court, you need an experienced, caring lawyer on your side who knows how the juvenile court works. The repercussions from adjudication and the ensuing implications of being in juvenile court can last for the rest of your child’s life. Call the attorneys at the Ault Firm today, and we can help you fight to keep your child’s record clean – and to make sure that they will be free to go after all the opportunities that open up for them in the years to come.
(See our webpage on juvenile criminal defense for more information.)