U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

this Fact Sheet are based on CIS data for transferred youth during

1993 and 1995 (before and after the 1994 reforms). 

Number of Transfers

According to CIS data, the number of cases transferred to criminal

court decreased slightly between 1993 and 1995, despite Florida’s

expansion of transfer authority. Transferred youth accounted for

about 7 percent of all referrals in CIS in 1993 and about 6 percent

of all referrals in 1995. This slight decrease occurred even though

the total number of juveniles referred to the juvenile justice system

rose by 20 percent between 1993 and 1995. The enhanced legal

authority provided by the 1994 reforms did not increase the numbers of youth transferred to criminal court in Florida in 1995.

Characteristics of Florida juveniles transferred to criminal

court changed little between 1993 and 1995

1993 1995

Characteristic Number Percent Number Percent

Gender

Male 5,254 91 5,093 90

Female 491 9 538 10

Total 5,745 5,631

Race

White 2,611 45 2,722 48

Nonwhite 3,136 55 2,915 52

Total 5,747 5,637

Age (years)

11 and under 58 1 39 1

12–13 190 3 150 3

14–15 828 15 985 18

16–17 4,393 80 4,234 78

Total 5,469 5,408

Notes: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. Totals differ 

across categories because of incomplete data.

Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court in

Florida: The 1994 Reforms

Since 1995, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has funded a multifaceted study of juvenile transfers

to criminal court in Florida. One component of the study examines

the impact of legislative changes on transfer outcomes. In Florida,

juveniles are transferred to adult criminal jurisdiction through

voluntary waiver (the offender requests prosecution as an adult),

legislative waiver or statutory exclusion (legislation excludes

some cases from juvenile court jurisdiction based on offense, age,

or prior record), prosecutorial direct file (a prosecutor decides to

file formal charges in criminal court), or judicial waiver (a judge

grants a motion to move a case to criminal court). 

By the late 1980s, most transfers in Florida occurred through prosecutorial direct file; that is, charges were filed directly in criminal

court. In 1994, the Florida legislature expanded State laws on

transfer by enacting three major provisions. First, it extended prosecutorial direct file by permitting prosecutors to file charges

directly in criminal court against 14- and 15-year-old defendants

charged with 1 of 14 “qualifying” serious felony offenses. Second,

it required prosecutors to file charges directly in criminal court

against any juvenile being prosecuted for a new offense who had

already been adjudicated delinquent on at least three separate

occasions and for whom three separate residential placements had

been previously ordered. Third, it enacted a presumptive judicial

waiver for juveniles with three prior delinquency adjudications (or

adjudications withheld) for felonies, one or more of which involved violence against a person or using or possessing firearms.

Under Florida’s presumptive judicial waiver, a prosecutor is required to request a waiver and the judge is required to grant it

unless the judge provides written reasons to support processing the

case in juvenile court.

Florida’s Data on Juveniles

The data used to examine transfers to criminal court come from

the Client Information System (CIS) of Florida’s Department of

Juvenile Justice. CIS tracks each referral to juvenile court from

intake or arrest to disposition.1 For youth transferred to criminal

court, the transfer is coded as the disposition. The comparisons in

June 2001 #22

1 If more than one referral of an individual occurred on the same day, the

referrals were grouped together as a “case.” For individuals who had more

than one case in a given year, the earliest referral date that resulted in

transfer to criminal court was the case that was included in the study for

that individual.
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FS–200122 Fact Sheet

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

The offense that triggered transfer of Florida juveniles to

criminal court changed little between 1993 and 1995

1993 1995

Offense Number Percent Number Percent

Felony 4,550 79 4,612 82

Misdemeanor 1,070 19 923 16

Other 127 2 102 2

Total 5,747 100 5,637 100

The offense history of Florida juveniles transferred to

criminal court changed little between 1993 and 1995

Number

of Prior 1993 1995

Referrals Number Percent Number Percent

0 868 15 874 16

1 636 11 650 12

2–4 1,374 24 1,401 25

5–9 1,380 24 1,424 25

10 or more 1,489 26 1,288 23

Total 5,747 100 5,637 101

Note: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding.

Effects of the 1994 Reforms

The 1994 reforms addressed younger offenders, juveniles who

committed felony offenses, and juveniles who had significant prior

records. However, data from CIS indicate that these reforms had

little effect on the types of youth who were transferred in the year

following the changes. The lack of immediate impact may indicate

that prosecutors and judges have been slow to implement their

new authority. It may also reflect differences in perception between legislators and practitioners who deal directly with criminal

youth.

For Further Information

For more information on the Florida transfer study, contact:

Donna M. Bishop

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

617–373–3327

617–373–8723 (fax)

d.bishop@nunet.neu.edu

Lonn Lanza-Kaduce

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

353–392–1025

llkkll@crim.ufl.edu

Charles E. Frazier

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

352–392–5727

352–392–5065 (fax)

frazier@soc.ufl.edu

For more information and to request additional publications on

juvenile transfers to criminal court, call the Juvenile Justice

Clearinghouse at 800–638–8736.

Donna M. Bishop, Ph.D., Lonn Lanza-Kaduce, Ph.D., J.D., and Charles

E. Frazier, Ph.D., coprincipal investigators of the Florida transfer study;

Jodi Lane, Ph.D., research associate on the study; and Henry George

White, J.D., project manager, contributed to this Fact Sheet.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component 

of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice

Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice,

and the Office for Victims of Crime.

FS–200122