Gerard A. Rainville

Steven K. Smith

BJS Statisticians

In 40 of the Nation’s largest urban

counties, approximately 7,100 juveniles

were charged with felonies in adult

criminal court during 1998. Nearly

two-thirds of the defendants were

charged with a violent felony. 

These findings are from a BJSsponsored data collection in Baltimore

City and 39 urban counties in 19

States. (The term “40 counties” in this

report refers to this sample.) Information was collected on all juvenile defendants who went to criminal court. (See

Methodology for complete project description.) This report provides aggregate county data. Tables of individual

county data are available on the BJS

website. (See <www.usdoj.gov/bjs>.)

State laws establish the age at which

defendants are automatically tried in

criminal courts. Defendants at or below

this age (the “upper age of jurisdiction”)

are handled in juvenile courts unless

certain criteria are met. Each State

specifies the criteria that must be met

for juveniles to be prosecuted in criminal court. 

• Transfer to criminal court traditionally

involves a hearing before a juvenile

court judge to determine whether a juvenile is amenable to treatment in the

juvenile system. In cases where a juvU.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs 

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Special Report

Survey of 40 Counties, 1998

Juvenile Felony Defendants 

in Criminal Courts

 May 2003, NCJ 197961

• In 1998 in 40 of the largest urban

counties, approximately 7,100

juvenile felony defendants were

adjudicated in adult criminal court.

• In criminal court juveniles (64%)

were more likely than adults (24%) to

be charged with a violent felony. 

These juvenile defendants were generally regarded as serious offenders, as

52% did not receive pretrial release,

63% were convicted of a felony, and

43% of those convicted received a

prison sentence.

• States have expanded mechanisms

by which juveniles can be charged in

criminal courts. In 1998 statutory

exclusion was the most common

method (42%) used to charge juvenile

defendants compared to the more

traditional juvenile waiver (24%).

• Of the 7,135 juvenile felony defendants, 62% were black, 20% were

white, 96% were male, and at the time

of arrest 55% were within 1 year of

adulthood as defined by their State.

• 66% of the juvenile felony defendants

were convicted, either of a felony or a

misdemeanor. Of those convicted,

64% were sentenced to jail or prison

as the most serious penalty. The average prison sentence received was

about 90 months.

 Highlights

27% of the 7,135 juvenile felony defendants were sentenced to prison

100% defendants charged with felony

63% felony conviction

27% prison

sentence

13% jail

sentence

15% non-incarceration

sentence

7% other

outcome

1% sentence

pending

*Source: 1998 State Court Processing Statistics. Comparison is between a nearly identical

sample of 40 counties. See Methodology.

Probation 24.4 26.1

Jail 20.3 33.5

Prison 43.3% 26.1%

Most serious sanction

for convicted defendants

Public-order offense 3.5 8.7

Drug offense 15.1 38.8

Property offense 17.7 28.1

Violent offense 63.5% 24.4%

Most serious felony 

arrest charge

Characteristic Juveniles Adults*

Nearly two-thirds of juvenile felony

defendants charged with a violent

crime in 40 counties, 1998
enile court judge transfers jurisdiction

to the criminal courts, transfer is effected by means of a judicial waiver. 

• State statutes can specify the criteria

that will exclude a juvenile from

juvenile court. Juveniles sent to criminal court by these means are said to

be statutorily excluded from juvenile

court juris- diction.

• The prosecutorial direct file, sometimes referred to as a concurrent jurisdiction waiver, occurs where State

statutes have established criteria for

cases which may be prosecuted in

either juvenile or criminal court. For

such cases, discretion lies with the

prosecutor. 

The most common method of transferring juveniles to adult court, statutory

exclusion, represented 42% of all such

cases in the 40 counties. Prosecutorial

direct file accounted for 35%, and the

judicial waiver, 24% (table 1). 

Arrest charge

Nearly two-thirds of the juveniles processed in adult court in 1998 were

charged with a violent felony (table 2).

Almost a third were charged with robbery and about a fifth with assault.

Property offenses accounted for 18%

of the juvenile felony defendants. Drug

offenses accounted for 15%, with drug

trafficking the majority of these drug

offenses. Less than 4% of the juvenile

felony defendants had a public-order

arrest charge.

Gender and race/Hispanic origin

In 1998, 96% of the juveniles charged

with a felony in criminal court were

male (table 3). Females made up 6%

of those juveniles charged with a violent offense. Among all other general

arrest charge categories (drug, property, and public-order crime), about

2% of the juvenile felony defendants

were female.

2 Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 

Note: The transfer mechanism was not known

for 82 defendants.

exclusion 2,933 41.6

Statutory

direct file 2,445 34.7

Prosecutor

Judicial waiver 1,675 23.7%

Total 7,053 100.0%

Number Percent

Juvenile felony

defendants

Table 1. Juvenile felony defendants in

40 large urban counties, by transfer

mechanism, 1998

Note: Gender is missing for 2 cases. Race/ethnicity is missing for 62 cases. Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

Other felony 15 93.3% 6.7% 15 40.0% 20.0% 13.3% 26.7%

Other public-order offense 66 98.5 1.5 65 53.8 26.2 0.0 20.0

Weapons 183 98.4 1.6 183 65.6 16.9 1.1 16.4

Public-order offenses 249 98.4% 1.6% 248 62.5% 19.4% 0.8% 17.3%

Other drug offense 288 97.6 2.4 288 80.9 11.1 1.4 6.6

Drug trafficking 790 98.4 1.6 790 89.0 5.8 0.5 4.7

Drug offenses 1,078 98.1% 1.9% 1,078 86.8% 7.2% 0.7% 5.2%

Other property offense 342 99.1 0.9 341 56.3 29.6 0.9 13.2

Theft 320 97.5 2.5 320 51.6 31.9 0.3 16.3

Burglary 602 97.8 2.2 600 42.5 39.8 1.7 16.0

Property offenses 1,264 98.1% 1.9% 1,261 48.5% 35.1% 1.1% 15.3%

Other violent offense 213 96.7 3.3 212 40.1 36.3 4.2 19.3

Assault 1,469 93.1 6.9 1,454 55.0 21.9 2.5 20.6

Robbery 2,227 94.0 6.0 2,197 66.9 15.1 1.5 16.6

Rape 241 98.8 1.2 238 63.4 20.2 1.7 14.7

Murder 377 97.9 2.1 370 49.5 15.7 5.7 29.2

Violent offenses 4,527 94.4% 5.6% 4,471 60.1% 18.6% 2.3% 19.0%

All offenses 7,133 95.8% 4.2% 7,073 62.2% 19.9% 1.8% 16.2%

Most serious arrest charge defendants Male Female defendants Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic any race

Number of Percent Number of Black non- White non- Other non- Hispanic,

Percent

Juvenile felony defendants

by most serious arrest charge, 1998

Table 3. Gender and race/Hispanic origin of juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties, 

Note: In this and subsequent tables, motor

vehicle thefts are included in the "Other

property offense" category.

Other felony offenses 15 0.2%

Other public-order 66 0.9

Weapons 184 2.6

Public-order offenses 250 3.5%

Other drug offense 288 4.0

Drug trafficking 790 11.1

Drug offenses 1,078 15.1%

Other property offense 342 4.8

Theft 320 4.5

Burglary 602 8.4

Property offenses 1,264 17.7%

Other violent offense 213 3.0

Assault 1,470 20.6

Robbery 2,227 31.2

Rape 241 3.4

Murder 377 5.3

Violent offenses 4,528 63.5%

All offenses 7,135 100.0%

arrest charge Number Percent

Most serious defendants

Juvenile felony 

Table 2. Most serious arrest charge

for juvenile felony defendants in 40

large urban counties, 1998
In 1998 in the 40 counties, 62% of the

juvenile felony defendants were black,

20% were white, 16% were Hispanic,

and almost 2% were another race. 

A majority of the juvenile felony defendants charged with a violent (60%),

drug (87%), or public-order (63%)

felony offense were black. Blacks were

49% of property defendants. Whites

were 35% of juvenile felony property

defendants and nearly 20% of juveniles

charged with violent or public-order

felony offenses. 

Hispanic juveniles represented more

than 15% of those charged with a

felony property offense and nearly 20%

of violent or public-order felony arrest

charges. Whites and Hispanics each

accounted for less than 10% of juvenile

felony drug defendants.

Age at arrest

The established upper age of jurisdiction for criminal jurisdiction varied for

the 19 States in the 40 county sample.

In 1998 New York had an upper age of

jurisdiction of 15, 6 States (Georgia,

Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, and

Wisconsin) had an upper age of jurisdiction of 16, and the remainder

(Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida,

Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland,

Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and

Washington) had an upper age of jurisdiction of 17. 

Most juveniles (55%) in adult court in

the 40 large counties were within 1

year of adulthood at the time of arrest

as defined by their State (figure 1).

Regardless of the State upper age of

jurisdiction, the majority of juveniles

transferred to criminal courts would

have been considered adults within a

year; 40% were within 6 months of

adult status. Ten percent of the juvenile

felony defendants were 3 or more

years away from the upper age of jurisdiction. 

About 26% of defendants were less

than 16 years old, 31% were between

ages 16 and 17, and 43% were 17

years or older (table 4).

Pretrial release

Fifty-two percent of the juvenile felony

defendants were released prior to the

disposition of their case (table 5).

Those charged with a violent felony

offense were the least likely to be

released pretrial (45%). Fewer than

10% of defendants charged with murder were released, and under half of

those charged with rape (47%), robbery (49%), or assault (47%) were

released. Over 60% of those charged

with property, drug, or public-order

offenses were released before trial. 

Of the 3,576 juveniles who were released pending trial, 55% were

charged with a violent offense; about

20% with a property or drug offense,

and 4% were charged with a publicorder offense.

 Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts 3

Note: For 186 cases, data were missing or the case was closed before the release/detain

decision.

Other felony offenses 14 64.3% 35.7% 9 0.3%

Other public-order offense 64 42.2 57.8 27 0.8

Weapons 173 67.6 32.4 117 3.3

Public-order offenses 237 60.8% 39.2% 144 4.0%

Other drug offense 273 67.8 32.2 185 5.2

Drug trafficking 768 68.0 32.0 522 14.6

Drug offenses 1,041 67.9% 32.1% 707 19.8%

Other property offense 333 65.2 34.8 217 6.1

Theft 305 64.6 35.4 197 5.5

Burglary 585 55.6 44.4 325 9.1

Property offenses 1,223 60.4% 39.6% 739 20.7%

Other violent 213 44.1 55.9 94 2.6

Assault 1,444 47.3 52.7 683 19.1

Robbery 2,172 48.6 51.4 1,055 29.5

Rape 230 47.4 52.6 109 3.0

Murder 375 9.6 90.4 36 1.0

Violent offenses 4,434 44.6% 55.4% 1,977 55.3%

All offenses 6,949 51.5% 48.5% 3,576 100.0%

Most serious arrest charge of defendants Released Detained released total released

Total number felony defendants Number Percent of

Percent of juvenile

serious arrest charge and whether released prior to case disposition, 1998

Table 5. Juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties, by most 

Figure 1

Cumulative percentage of juvenile

felony defendants, by proximity to the

upper age of jurisdiction, in 40 large

urban counties, 1998

0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Months from upper age of 

Percent of juvenile felony defendants

jurisdiction at time of arrest

*All but 2 defendants in the "Less than 14"

category were between ages 13 and 14.

18 and over 222 3.1

17 to 18 2,844 39.9

16 to 17 2,187 30.7

15 to 16 1,373 19.2

14 to 15 488 6.8

Less than 14* 21 0.3%

All ages 7,135 100.0%

Age at arrest

Number Percent

defendants

Juvenile felony

Table 4. Juvenile felony defendants in

40 large urban counties, by age 

at arrest, 1998
About half of released juvenile felony

defendants were released by a nonfinancial arrangement (personal recognizance, unsecured, or conditional

supervised release) (table 6). The

remaining half were released by some

form of financial release (surety,

deposit, cash, or property bonds).

About half of released juvenile felony

defendants charged with a violent

(48%) or property (49%) offense were

released by a financial arrangement.

Sixty-four percent of released publicorder defendants and 53% of released drug defendants were released

by a financial arrangement. More than

70% of released murder defendants

were released by a financial arrangement. 

Adjudication outcome

Sixty-six percent of the juvenile felony

defendants prosecuted in criminal

court were convicted. Of the 6,568

juveniles arrested for a felony for whom

adjudication outcome data were available, 63% were convicted of a felony,

2% were convicted of a misdemeanor,

and 

1% were adjudicated delinquent (table

7).

Most cases in which the defendant was

not convicted were dismissed by the 

court or not pursued by the prosecutor.

About 1% of all juvenile felony defendants were found not guilty, by either a

jury or bench trial.

4 Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 

Note: Of the 3,576 cases, the specific release arrangement was unknown for 110 cases.

a

The types of financial release include surety, deposit, cash, and property bonds.

b

Non-financial release includes release on recognizance, unsecured bond, and conditional

release.

Other felony 9 55.6% 44.4%

Other public-order offense 27 55.6 44.4

Weapons 116 65.5 34.5

Public-order offenses 143 63.6% 36.4%

Other drug offense 179 52.0 48.0

Drug trafficking 493 52.7 47.3

Drug offenses 672 52.5% 47.5%

Other property offense 209 39.7 60.3

Theft 189 56.1 43.9

Burglary 307 50.5 49.5

Property offenses 705 48.8% 51.2%

Other violent offense 94 51.1 48.9

Assault 669 57.1 42.9

Robbery 1,034 39.0 61.0

Rape 105 61.0 39.0

Murder 35 71.4 28.6

Violent offenses 1,937 47.6% 52.4%

All offenses 3,466 49.5% 50.5%

Nonfinancialb Financiala Most serious arrest charge released

Number defendants released

Percent of juvenile felony

counties, by most serious arrest charge, 1998

Table 6. Type of release for juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban 

Note: Of the 7,135 total, 565 cases had outcomes pending; 2 non-pending cases had missing adjudication outcomes. 

Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

*Nearly all of the criminal court cases that were adjudicated delinquent were from counties in Florida where such adjudication outcomes are

permissible.

Other felony 14 100.0% 57.1% 57.1% 0.0% 0.0% 42.9% 42.9% 0.0%

Other public-order offense 66 100.0 87.9 77.3 7.6 3.0 12.1 12.1 0.0

Weapons 178 100.0 68.6 62.4 5.1 1.1 31.4 29.2 2.2

Public-order offenses 244 100.0% 73.7% 66.4% 5.7% 1.6% 26.2% 24.6% 1.6%

Other property offense 332 100.0 74.4 68.7 4.2 1.5 25.6 24.7 0.9

Theft 306 100.0 80.3 76.1 3.9 0.3 19.6 19.6 0.0

Burglary 567 100.0 83.3 80.2 1.9 1.2 16.5 16.0 0.5

Property offenses 1,205 100.0% 80.2% 76.0% 3.1% 1.1% 19.8% 19.3% 0.5%

Other drug offense 271 100.0 70.1 68.3 1.8 0.0 29.9 29.5 0.4

Drug trafficking 740 100.0 74.9 71.5 2.3 1.1 25.1 24.6 0.5

Drug offenses 1,011 100.0% 73.6% 70.6% 2.2% 0.8% 26.4% 25.9% 0.5%

Other violent offense 200 100.0 79.5 75.5 3.5 0.5 20.5 19.0 1.5

Assault 1,352 100.0 54.8 50.6 3.3 0.9 45.2 44.1 1.1

Robbery 2,106 100.0 59.4 57.3 1.3 0.8 40.6 40.0 0.6

Rape 194 100.0 50.5 48.5 1.0 1.0 49.5 47.4 2.1

Murder 242 100.0 73.6 73.6 0.0 0.0 26.4 19.0 7.4

Violent offenses 4,094 100.0% 59.3% 56.5% 2.0% 0.8% 40.7% 39.4% 1.3%

All offenses 6,568 100.0% 65.9% 62.6% 2.4% 0.9% 34.1% 33.1% 1.0%

Most serious arrest charge defendants total Total Felony meanor delinquent* Total prosecuted Acquitted

Number of Overall Misde- Adjudicated Dismissed/not

Convicted Not convicted

Percent of juvenile felony defendants 

by most serious arrest charge, 1998

Table 7. Adjudication outcome for juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties,
In 1998 59% of the juvenile defendants

charged with a violent offense were

convicted — a lower conviction rate

than for those juveniles charged in

criminal court with property (80%),

public-order (74%), or drug offenses

(74%). 

Seventy-four percent of juvenile felony

defendants charged with murder were

found guilty; 7% were found not guilty.

In the 40 counties, no juvenile defendant charged with murder was adjudicated delinquent.

Half of the juvenile felony defendants

charged with rape were convicted; 48%

had cases that were dismissed or not 

pursued by the State, and 2% were

found not guilty.

Conviction offense and arrest

charge

The majority of convicted juvenile

felony defendants were convicted for

the same type of offense for which they

were originally charged (table 8). For

those arrested for murder and subsequently convicted, 86% were convicted

of the original charge of murder.

Almost 30% of the juveniles convicted

had been charged with robbery: 89% of

these juveniles were convicted of

robbery.

Sentencing

Sentencing outcomes for 4,101

juvenile felony defendants convicted 

in criminal courts reveal that 64%

received some form of incarceration

(prison or jail) as the most serious

penalty (table 9). 

 Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts 5

Note: Percent convicted presented only for selected offense categories. 56 cases, that were adjudicated delinquent, are not shown.

Weapons 120 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 85.0 7.5

Theft 245 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 86.1 0.4 4.9

Burglary 466 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 82.0 9.9 0.4 2.4

Drug trafficking 546 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 86.3 0.0 0.0 0.4 3.1

Assault 729 0.4 0.0 5.2 79.7 0.0 0.3 0.4 1.2 6.2

Robbery 1,234 0.0 0.1 88.6 2.9 0.3 2.7 1.1 0.6 2.3

Rape 96 0.0 86.5 2.1 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 2.1

Murder 178 86.0% 0.0% 2.8% 4.5% 0.6% 1.1% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0%

Total 4,268 3.7% 2.0% 26.9% 14.9% 11.2% 10.1% 7.1% 3.0% 3.6%

arrest charge convicted Murder Rape Robbery Assault trafficking Burglary Theft Weapons meanor

Most serious Number Drug MisdeFelony

Percent of convicted juvenile felony defendants convicted for —

Table 8. Conviction offense for convicted juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties, 

by most serious arrest charge, 1998

c

Prison sentences for misdemeanors were permissible in Baltimore City, MD.

b

“Other outcome” includes being sentenced to time served, victim restitution, community service, electronic monitoring, drug or alcohol treatment,

drug testing, counseling and/or anger management, and suspended jail and prison sentences. 

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

a

Sentencing data were missing for 54 cases. An additional 113 cases had pending or deferred sentences. 

MisdemeanorC 152 100.0% 59.8% 16.4% 43.4% 19.8% 19.1% 0.7% 20.4%

Other felony offense 11 100.0% 63.7% 45.5% 18.2% 27.3% 27.3% 0.0% 9.1%

Other public-order offense 75 100.0 66.6 29.3 37.3 28.0 28.0 0.0 5.3

Weapons 120 100.0 54.2 29.2 25.0 35.8 35.8 0.0 10.0

Public-order offenses 195 100.0% 58.9% 29.2% 29.7% 32.8% 32.8% 0.0% 8.2%

Other drug offense 241 100.0 45.6 14.9 30.7 41.1 41.1 0.0 13.3

Drug trafficking 470 100.0 48.1 29.4 18.7 40.6 40.2 0.4 11.3

Drug offenses 711 100.0% 47.3% 24.5% 22.8% 40.8% 40.5% 0.3% 12.0%

Other property offense 245 100.0 58.4 19.2 39.2 29.4 29.0 0.4 12.2

Theft 299 100.0 57.2 25.8 31.4 30.8 29.8 1.0 12.0

Burglary 417 100.0 60.6 36.9 23.7 22.3 22.1 0.2 17.0

Property offenses 961 100.0% 59.0% 28.9% 30.1% 26.7% 26.2% 0.5% 14.3%

Other violent offense 168 100.0 83.3 51.2 32.1 12.5 12.5 0.0 4.2

Assault 607 100.0 72.2 54.9 17.3 17.0 16.5 0.5 10.9

Robbery 1,083 100.0 66.9 58.6 8.3 21.3 21.1 0.2 11.7

Rape 74 100.0 74.4 67.6 6.8 16.2 16.2 0.0 9.5

Murder 139 100.0 94.2 94.2 0.0 0.7 0.7 0.0 5.0

Violent offenses 2,071 100.0% 71.9% 59.6% 12.3% 17.7% 17.5% 0.2% 10.3%

All offenses 4,101 100.0% 63.6% 43.3% 20.3% 24.7% 24.4% 0.3% 11.8%

outcomeb defendants total Total Prison Jail Total Probation Fine a conviction offense

Most serious Number of Overall Other

Incarceration Non-incarceration

Percent of convicted juvenile felony defendants

by conviction offense, 1998

Table 9. Most serious type of sentence received by convicted juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties, 
Forty-three percent of those convicted

were sentenced to prison, and 20% to

jail as their most serious incarceration

penalty. Jail sentences are for shortterm confinement (usually for a year or

less) in a county or city facility, while

prison sentences are for long-term

confinement (usually for over a year) in

a State facility. About 25% received

non-incarceration sentences as the

most serious penalty — primarily

probation. Less than 1% of all convicted juvenile felony defendants

received a fine as the most serious

penalty. 

In 1998 juvenile felony defendants

convicted of a violent offense were

more likely to receive a sentence of

incarceration than those convicted of 

a nonviolent offense. Sixty percent of

juvenile defendants convicted of violent

offenses received a prison sentence.

An additional 12% were sentenced to

jail. Nearly all defendants (94%) convicted of murder received a prison

sentence, as did 68% of those convicted of rape.

About 60% of those convicted of

property and public-order offenses

received incarceration sentences.

Forty-seven percent of convicted juvenile felony drug offenders received a

sentence of confinement. Sixty percent

of those convicted of misdemeanors

received incarceration sentences —

most frequently jail. 

Sentence lengths

Four percent of juvenile felons received

a sentence of life in prison (table 10).

Including those life sentences, nearly

40% of all defendants sentenced to

prison received sentences longer than

72 months. About 18% received prison

terms up to 2 years. Twenty-six

percent received sentences between 

2 and 4 years. The most common

prison sentence for violent offenders

was over 72 months. 

 

For property and public-order offenders, the most common prison

sentence was up to 2 years.

The average or mean term of imprisonment for convicted offenders sentenced to incarceration was 89 months.

The median sentence length was 60

months (figure 2). The difference

between these measures is due to a

small number of relatively long prison

terms affecting the mean. 

Juvenile felony defendants convicted of

drug or property offenses received a

median prison sentence of 36 months.

Juveniles sent to prison for violent

offenses received sentences with a

mean length of 106 months (excluding

“life”) and a median length of 72

months.

6 Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 

Figure 2

Median prison sentences (in months) for juvenile felony defendants 

in 40 large urban counties, by conviction offense category, 1998

Most serious conviction offense

Median sentence in months

Public-order 

Drug 

Property 

Violent 

All

0 12 24 36 48 60 72

Note: 30 cases, classified as other felony and misdemeanor, are not shown. Zero represents no cases in sample. 

Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

*Excludes life sentences.

Public-order offenses 57 34 24 54.4 40.4 1.8 3.5 0.0

Drug offenses 174 58 36 28.7 36.8 22.4 12.1 0.0

Property offenses 278 52 36 37.1 30.9 11.9 20.1 0.0

Violent offenses 1,227 106 72 9.7% 22.7% 18.4% 43.8% 5.3%

Total 1,736 89 60 17.7% 26.2% 17.4% 35.0% 3.7%

conviction offense to prison Mean Median 0-24 25-48 49-72 Over 72* Life

Most serious sentenced Percent receiving —

Number Maximum sentence length in months 

by most serious conviction offense, 1998

Table 10. Sentence length for juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties sentenced to prison,
More than 800 juvenile defendants

received a term in a local jail as the

most serious sanction (table 11). The

most common jail sentences were 9 to

12 months (40%) and 4 months or less

(37%). Three percent of juvenile felony

defendants received jail sentences

exceeding 1 year.

 

Nine hundred ninety-nine juvenile

felony defendants received probation

as the most serious sanction (table 12).

About 3% of those sentenced to probation were to serve more than 5 years

and 14%, a year or less. 

Over a third of the juveniles sentenced

to probation were convicted of a violent

felony: most of them were to serve 4

years or more. Drug offenders comprised about 29% of the juveniles

sentenced to probation. Most of these

drug offenders were sentenced to 2

years or less of supervision.

 Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts 7

Note: 2 cases designated as "other felony" not shown. Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

*Misdemeanor cases with a sentence length of more than 1 year were in one jurisdiction whose criminal code permitted such sentences. 

Misdemeanors* 66 34.8 13.6 50.0 1.5

Public-order offenses 58 48.3 22.4 24.1 5.2

Drug offenses 162 35.8 25.3 36.4 2.5

Property offenses 289 43.3 20.4 33.2 3.1

Violent offenses 254 26.4% 21.7% 48.8% 3.1%

Total 831 36.5% 21.3% 39.2% 3.0%

conviction offense tenced to jail 0-4 mos 5-8 mos 9-12 mos 1 year

Most serious Number sen- More than

defendants sentenced to jail

Percent of juvenile felony 

as the most serious sanction, by conviction offense category, 1998

Table 11. Sentence length for juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties sentenced to jail

Note: 3 cases were classified as other felony and are not shown. Zero represents no cases in sample. 

Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

Misdemeanors 29 41.4 37.9 10.3 0.0 10.3 0.0

Public-order offenses 64 20.3 34.4 35.9 4.7 3.1 1.6

Drug offenses 288 14.9 58.0 21.5 3.1 1.7 0.7

Property offenses 252 16.7 22.6 37.3 11.1 9.5 2.8

Violent offenses 363 7.7% 14.3% 17.6% 10.7% 45.2% 4.4%

Total 999 13.8% 31.0% 24.7% 7.9% 19.8% 2.6%

conviction offense probation 0-12 mos 13-24 mos 25-36 mos 37-48 mos 49-60 mos 60 mos

Most serious tenced to More than

Number sen- Percent of juvenile felony defendants sentenced to probation

as the most serious sanction, by conviction offense category, 1998

Table 12. Sentence length for juvenile felony defendants in 40 large urban counties sentenced to probation
Comparing juvenile and adult 

defendants in criminal courts

A comparison of juvenile felony defendants with adult defendants in nearly

the same set of counties in 1998 

reveals differences between the most

serious arrest charge (table 13).

For example, 64% of juvenile felony

defendants had a violent offense as

their most serious arrest charge, compared to 24% of adults. Ninety-six

percent of juvenile felony defendants

were male compared to 82% of adult

defendants in 1998.

Note: Gender was missing for 2 juveniles cases

and 28 adults. 

Female 6,954 17.9

Male 31,822 82.1%

Number Percent

Adult felony defendants

Female 303 4.2

Male 6,830 95.8%

Number Percent

Juvenile felony defendants

The likelihood of being released pretrial was lower for juvenile felony defendants than for adults, generally due to

their more serious arrest charges.

About half of the juveniles charged in

criminal courts were released pretrial,

compared to about two-thirds of adults.

Note: 186 juvenile cases and 1,364 adult cases

did not have known release/detention status.

Detained 14,195 37.9

Released 23,245 62.1%

Number Percent

Adult felony defendants

Detained 3,373 48.5

Released 3,576 51.5%

Number Percent

Juvenile felony defendants 

The likelihood of conviction did not

differ markedly between juvenile transferred defendants and adult felony

defendants, with about two-thirds of

each group being convicted of some

offense (not shown in table).

For violent and property conviction

offenses, similar percentages of

juvenile felony defendants and adults

were sentenced to incarceration as

their most serious sanction (table 14).

Of those who received incarceration

sentences, juvenile felony defendants

were more likely than adults to receive

prison sentences. For example, among

those convicted of violent offenses,

60% of juveniles and 43% of adults

were sentenced to prison. These differences could be related to criminal

histories or statutory considerations

which these data do not address. 

8 Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 

Source: Data for adult felony defendants came from the 1998 State Court Processing Statistics

dataset. Calculations exclude juveniles. Data for juvenile felony defendants came from the 40

county data collection, 1998.

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

...Not available.

Other felony 15 0.2% ... ...%

Other public-order offense 66 0.9 2,274 5.8

Weapons 184 2.6 1,086 2.8

Public-order offenses 250 3.5% 3,360 8.7%

Other drug offense 288 4.0 7,865 20.3

Drug trafficking 790 11.1 7,185 18.5

Drug offenses 1,078 15.1% 15,050 38.8%

Other property offense 342 4.8 4,451 11.5

Theft 320 4.5 3,530 9.1

Burglary 602 8.4 2,938 7.6

Property offenses 1,264 17.7% 10,919 28.1%

Other violent offense 213 3.0 1,305 3.4

Assault 1,470 20.6 4,954 12.8

Robbery 2,227 31.2 2,487 6.4

Rape 241 3.4 495 1.3

Murder 377 5.3 234 0.6

Violent offenses 4,528 63.5% 9,475 24.4%

All offenses 7,135 100.0% 38,804 100.0%

arrest charge Number Percent Number Percent

Most serious felony defendants defendants

Juvenile felony Adult felony 

in 40 large urban counties, 1998

Table 13. Most serious arrest charge for juvenile and adult felony defendants 
 Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts 9

Source: Data for adult felony defendants came from the 1998 State Court Processing Statistics dataset. Calculations exclude juveniles. Data for

juvenile felony defendants came from the 40 county data collection, 1998.

Note: Adjudicated cases designated as 'Other violent, other property ...other felony' not shown but included in the overall offense category. 

Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

Misdemeanors 100.0% 36.4% 1.4% 35.0% 43.5% 38.9% 4.6% 20.0%

Public-order offenses 100.0% 70.3% 34.8% 35.5% 22.3% 22.0% 0.3% 7.4%

Drug offenses 100.0% 65.4% 30.1% 35.3% 22.4% 22.2% 0.2% 12.3%

Theft 100.0 62.9 30.0 32.9 28.9 28.4 0.5 8.3

Burglary 100.0 73.7 45.2 28.5 15.8 15.4 0.4 10.4

Property offenses 100.0% 64.8% 32.8% 32.0% 26.4% 25.8% 0.6% 8.9%

Assault 100.0 70.1 37.1 33.0 19.2 19.0 0.2 10.7

Robbery 100.0 74.1 55.0 19.1 11.6 11.6 0.0 14.3

Rape 100.0 72.5 57.5 15.0 22.8 22.8 0.0 4.7

Murder 100.0 90.0 90.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.0

Violent offenses 100.0% 71.7% 43.1% 28.6% 16.6% 16.4% 0.2% 11.6%

All offenses 100.0% 59.6% 26.1% 33.5% 27.4% 26.1% 1.3% 13.0%

conviction offense total Total Prison Jail Total Probation Fine outcome

Most serious Overall Incarceration Non-incarceration Other

Percent of adult felony defendants

Adult felony defendants

Misdemeanors 100.0% 59.8% 16.4% 43.4% 19.8% 19.1% 0.7% 20.4%

Public-order offenses 100.0% 58.9% 29.2% 29.7% 32.8% 32.8% 0.0% 8.2%

Drug offenses 100.0% 47.3% 24.5% 22.8% 40.8% 40.5% 0.3% 12.0%

Theft 100.0 57.2 25.8 31.4 30.8 29.8 1.0 12.0

Burglary 100.0 60.6 36.9 23.7 22.3 22.1 0.2 17.0

Property offenses 100.0% 59.0% 28.9% 30.1% 26.7% 26.2% 0.5% 14.3%

Assault 100.0 72.2 54.9 17.3 17.0 16.5 0.5 10.9

Robbery 100.0 66.9 58.6 8.3 21.3 21.1 0.2 11.7

Rape 100.0 74.4 67.6 6.8 16.2 16.2 0.0 9.5

Murder 100.0 94.2 94.2 0.0 0.7 0.7 0.0 5.0

Violent offenses 100.0% 71.9% 59.6% 12.3% 17.7% 17.5% 0.2% 10.3%

All offenses 100.0% 63.6% 43.3% 20.3% 24.7% 24.4% 0.3% 11.8%

conviction offense total Total Prison Jail Total Probation Fine outcome

Most serious Overall Incarceration Non-incarceration Other

Percent of juvenile felony defendants

Juvenile felony defendants

by conviction offense, 1998

Table 14. Most serious penalty for juvenile and adult felony defendants in 40 large urban counties, 
Methodology

The Juvenile Defendants in Criminal

Courts (JDCC) sample is an independent sample of cases drawn from the

county sample used in the State Court

Processing Statistics 1998 series. (See

Felony Defendants in Large Urban

Counties, 1998 http://www.ojp.usdoj.

gov/bjs/abstract/fdluc98.htm> for information on the SCPS sample.) Two

county substitutions were made for the

JDCC dataset: Honolulu, HI, replaced

Erie County, NY, and Westchester

County, NY, replaced Monroe County,

NY. Within each sampled site, data

were gathered on each juvenile felony

case. Cases were tracked through

adjudication or for up to 1 year. Data

for adult defendants are from the

SCPS 1998 survey. 

Offense categories

Felony offenses were classified into 12

categories for this report. These were

further classified into the four major

crime categories of violent, property,

drug, and public-order. The following

listings are a summary of the crimes in

each category; however, these lists are

not meant to be exhaustive. All offenses, except for murder, include

attempts and conspiracies to commit. 

Violent offenses 

Murder Includes homicide, nonnegligent manslaughter, and voluntary

homicide. Does not include attempted

murder (classified as felony assault),

negligent homicide, involuntary homicide, or vehicular manslaughter, which

are classified as other violent offenses.

Rape Includes forcible intercourse,

sodomy, or penetration with a foreign

object. Does not include statutory rape

or nonforcible acts with a minor or

someone unable to give legal consent,

nonviolent sexual offenses, or

commercialized sex offenses.

Robbery Includes the unlawful taking

of anything of value by force or threat

of force. Armed, unarmed, and aggravated robbery, car-jacking, armed

burglary, and armed mugging are

included. 

Assault Includes aggravated assault,

aggravated battery, attempted murder,

assault with a deadly weapon, felony

assault or battery on a law enforcement officer, and other felony assaults.

Does not include extortion, coercion, or

intimidation. 

Other violent offenses Includes

vehicular manslaughter, involuntary

manslaughter, negligent or reckless

homicide, nonviolent or nonforcible

sexual assault, kidnaping, unlawful

imprisonment, child or spouse abuse,

cruelty to a child, reckless endangerment, hit-and-run with bodily injury, and

intimidation. 

Property offenses

Burglary Includes any type of entry

into a residence, industry, or business

with or without the use of force with the

intent to commit a felony or theft. Does

not include possession of burglary

tools, trespassing, or unlawful entry for

which the intent is not known.

Larceny/theft Includes grand theft,

grand larceny, and any other felony

theft, including burglary from an

automobile, theft of rental property, 

and mail theft. Does not include motor

vehicle theft, receiving or buying stolen

property, fraud, forgery, or deceit.

Other property offenses Includes

motor vehicle theft, forgery, fraud,

receiving or buying stolen property,

arson, reckless burning, damage to

property, criminal mischief, vandalism, 

criminal trespassing, possession of

burglary tools, and unlawful entry. 

Drug offenses

Drug trafficking Includes trafficking,

sales, distribution, possession with

intent to distribute or sell, manufacturing, and smuggling of controlled substances. Does not include possession

of controlled substances.

Other drug offenses Includes

possession of controlled substances,

prescription violations, possession of

drug paraphernalia, and other drug law

violations.

Public-order offenses

Weapons Includes the unlawful sale,

distribution, manufacture, alteration,

transportation, possession, or use of a

deadly weapon or accessory.

Other public-order offenses Includes

driving-related offenses, flight/escape,

parole or probation violations, prison

contraband, habitual offender, obstruction of justice, rioting, libel, slander,

treason, perjury, prostitution/pandering,

bribery, and tax law violations. 

Additional notes on key variables

Age Juvenile status is measured by

the age at time of offense. Only those

cases in which the defendant was a

juvenile at time of offense were

retained in the study.

Race and Hispanic/Latino origin

Jurisdictions were not able to report

both a defendant’s race and Hispanic

origin. Defendants were classified as

black, white, other race, or Hispanic.

These four categories account for

100% of the defendants.

10 Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 

*Only perjuries are statutorily waived in

Texas.

Wisconsin x x

Washington x x

Texas x x* 

Tennessee x

Pennsylvania x x

Ohio x x

New York x

Missouri x

Michigan x x

Maryland x x

Kentucky x

Indiana x x

Illinois x x

Hawaii x

Georgia x x x

Florida x x x

California x

Arizona x x x

Alabama x x

Waiver Statutory Direct filing

Appendix 1. Filing mechanisms by

State, 1998

Judicial waivers were permitted in nearly

every State in the dataset. The most

commonly employed method of transfer,

statutory exclusion, was permitted in 13

of the 19 States. Direct filing was permitted in four States.
Adjudication type To be “adjudicated

delinquent” refers to a juvenile not

having a record of a conviction in the

criminal court. It refers to a finding of

delinquency by the criminal court judge

and the imposition of a juvenile court

sanction. 

Selected reading on juveniles

charged in criminal court

Bishop, Donna (2000). “Juvenile Offenders in the Adult Criminal Justice

System.” In Tonry, M. (editor) Crime

and Justice. A Review of Research

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press)

81-167. 

Bishop, Donna and Frazier, Charles

(2000). “Consequences of Transfer.” 

In Fagan, J. and Zimring, F. (eds). The

Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice:

Transfer of Adolescents to the Criminal

Court (Chicago: University of Chicago

Press: 227-276).

 

 Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts 11

Population data source: C. Puzzanchera, W. Kang, R. Poole, and Y. Wan. Easy Access to Juvenile Populations. Office of Juvenile Justice and

Deliquency Prevention, 2002. url: <http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/ezapop>. Figures based on U.S. Census Bureau data.

*Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; therefore, the total population is equal to the sum of the three racial groups.

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

Wisconsin Milwaukee 16 92,960 47,438 45,522 36.2 59.1 4.7 9.1 42 0.6

Washington King 17 167,514 85,655 81,859 8.4 76.9 14.7 5.9 45 0.6

Harris 16 338,947 172,978 165,969 23.1 70.3 6.6 32.6 105 1.5

Texas Dallas 16 198,564 101,191 97,373 26.6 67.9 5.4 26.0 28 0.4

Tennessee Shelby 17 100,588 51,333 49,255 57.7 40.7 1.6 1.5 162 2.3

Philadelphia 17 161,242 81,527 79,715 51.1 44.6 4.3 9.9 359 5.0

Pennsylvania Allegheny 17 122,569 62,501 60,068 18.1 79.9 2.0 1.1 50 0.7

Ohio Hamilton 17 93,656 47,945 45,711 29.4 68.9 1.7 0.9 36 0.5

Westchester 15 65,291 33,814 31,477 20.0 71.9 8.1 14.9 11 0.2

Suffolk 15 117,880 60,492 57,388 9.3 87.1 3.6 10.0 27 0.4

Queens 15 141,579 72,527 69,052 30.7 50.6 18.7 25.8 121 1.7

New York 15 86,204 44,031 42,173 40.0 48.1 11.9 47.5 199 2.8

Kings 15 200,735 101,385 99,350 48.3 44.9 6.8 27.9 334 4.7

New York Bronx 15 105,611 53,360 52,251 47.3 47.9 4.8 54.4 234 3.3

St. Louis 16 95,672 48,955 46,717 23.1 74.4 2.4 1.6 30 0.4

Missouri Jackson 16 64,625 32,943 31,682 32.1 65.7 2.2 5.1 22 0.3

Michigan Wayne 16 222,239 113,347 108,892 49.4 48.6 2.0 3.5 51 0.7

Montgomery 17 90,273 46,294 43,979 18.6 68.0 13.4 13.3 65 0.9

Maryland Baltimore City 17 69,731 35,137 34,594 75.3 23.1 1.6 1.3 586 8.2

Kentucky Jefferson 17 67,991 34,848 33,143 25.0 73.5 1.5 1.3 113 1.6

Indiana Marion 17 84,227 43,062 41,165 31.7 66.6 1.7 2.0 175 2.5

DuPage 16 85,915 44,281 41,634 2.8 88.1 9.1 7.6 6 0.1

Illinois Cook 16 494,030 252,337 241,693 33.5 61.0 5.5 23.7 540 7.6

Hawaii Honolulu 17 85,632 44,072 41,560 4.4 29.3 66.3 9.8 15 0.2

Georgia Fulton 16 66,292 33,567 32,725 66.9 30.7 2.4 3.7 39 0.5

Orange 17 92,570 46,980 45,590 24.5 71.5 4.0 17.1 279 3.9

Hillsborough 17 107,914 55,543 52,371 20.9 76.4 2.7 19.4 456 6.4

Dade 17 236,540 121,780 114,760 28.1 70.0 1.9 54.7 857 12.0

Florida Broward 17 153,507 78,032 75,475 29.0 68.1 2.9 15.5 520 7.3

Ventura 17 89,387 45,990 43,397 3.1 88.5 8.4 40.5 6 0.1

Santa Clara 17 168,358 86,771 81,587 5.0 70.6 24.3 32.6 39 0.5

San Francisco 17 56,427 29,156 27,271 15.8 37.5 46.7 22.4 3 0.0

San Bernardino 17 216,176 111,824 104,352 10.0 82.8 7.2 39.3 32 0.4

Sacramento 17 134,512 68,870 65,642 13.6 69.7 16.7 19.1 47 0.7

Orange 17 294,606 152,701 141,905 2.2 81.1 16.5 35.8 82 1.1

Los Angeles 17 1,038,677 534,630 504,047 12.6 73.5 13.9 54.6 445 6.2

California Alameda 17 146,336 74,672 71,664 23.7 53.8 22.5 22.2 4 0.1

Pima 17 88,562 45,247 43,315 5.1 86.7 8.2 39.3 264 3.7

Arizona Maricopa 17 331,687 169,985 161,702 5.7 88.5 5.8 27.1 574 8.0

Alabama Jefferson 17 65,733 33,270 32,463 45.9% 53.5% 0.6% 0.8% 132 1.9%

Overall population* 6,640,959 3,400,471 3,240,488 23.2% 67.1% 9.6% 27.2% 7,135 100.0%

State County tion, 1998 Total Males Females Black White Other any race Number Percent

of jurisdic- Gender Race* Hispanic, defendants 1998

Upper age Percent Juvenile felony

Appendix 2. County population characteristics of persons 10 years to upper age of jurisdiction, 1999

In 1998 the upper age of jurisdiction was 17 in 25 of the 40 sampled jurisdictions. Counties in New York, at 15, 

had the lowest upper age of jurisdiction in the sample.
Bishop, Donna, Frazier, Charles,

Lanza-Kaduce, Lonn, and Winner,

Lawrence (1996). “The Transfer of

Juveniles to Criminal Court: Does it

Make a Difference?” Crime and Delinquency, 42,2, 171-191.

Bortner, M.A., Zatz, Marjorie, and

Hawkins, Darnell (2000). “Race and

Transfer: Empirical Research and

Social Context.” In Fagan, J. and

Zimring, F. (eds). The Changing

Borders of Juvenile Justice: Transfer of

Adolescents to the Criminal Court

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press:

277-320).

Feld, Barry (2000). “Legislative Exclusion of Offenses from Juvenile Court

Jurisdiction: A History and Critique.” In

Fagan, J. and Zimring, F. (eds). The

Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice:

Transfer of Adolescents to the Criminal

Court (Chicago: University of Chicago

Press: 83-144).

Fritsch, Eric, Caeti, Tory, and

Hemmens, Craig (1996). “Spare the

Needle but not the Punishment: The

Incarceration of Waived Youth in 

Texas Prisons.” Crime and Delinquency, 42, 4, 593-609.

Griffin, Patrick, Torbet, Patricia, and

Szymanski, Linda (1998). Trying

Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court:

An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Snyder, Howard and Sickmund,

Melissa (1999). Juvenile Offenders and

Victims: 1999 National Report.

Washington DC: U.S. Department of

Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention.

Strom, Kevin J. and Smith, Steven K.

(1998). Juvenile Felony Defendants in

Criminal Courts. Washington DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, Bureau of

Justice Statistics (NCJ 165815).

12 Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 

The Bureau of Justice Statistics 

is the statistical agency of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. 

Lawrence A. Greenfeld is director.

Gerard A. Rainville and Steven K.

Smith of BJS wrote this report. 

Matthew Hickman provided verification. Carolyn C. Williams produced

and edited the report. Jayne Robinson administered final production. 

Dennis Ranalli, of Pretrial Services

Resource Center (PRSC), collected

and processed the data, under the

supervision of Jolanta Juszkiewicz.

Thomas Cohen assisted in data

collection. Howard Snyder and

Melissa Sickmund of the National

Center for Juvenile Justice provided

comments.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

provided funding for this project.

May 2003, NCJ 197961

This report in portable document

format and in ASCII, its tables, and

related statistical data are available

at the BJS World Wide Web Internet

site: <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/>