Title: Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1990-1999
Series: Fact Sheet
Author: Charles M. Puzzanchera
Published: September 2003
Subject: Adjudication--juvenile cases
3 pages
5,187 bytes

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Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1990-1999

by Charles M. Puzzanchera

Person offenses accounted for 23% of all delinquency cases in 1999

In 1999, U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated 387,100 delinquency cases
in which the most serious charge was an offense against a person. Person
offenses include assault, robbery, rape, and homicide. The 1999 person offense
caseload was 55% greater than in 1990. Person offense cases accounted for
23% of all delinquency cases in 1999, compared with 19% in 1990.

In 1999, U.S. juvenile courts handled 13.2 person offense cases for every
1,000 juveniles age 10 through the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction. The
person offense case rate increased 35% between 1990 and 1999. In contrast,
the case rate for property offenses decreased 20% between 1990 and 1999,
while the drug offense case rate grew 135% and the rate for public order
offenses increased 52%.

Homicide was the most serious charge in 1,800 cases handled in 1999. This
was less than 0.5% of all person offense cases handled by juvenile courts in
1999. The majority of person offense cases involved charges of simple assault
(255,900) or aggravated assault (55,800). Together, these two offenses
accounted for 81% of all person offense cases processed in 1999.

Characteristics of offenders

Compared with 1990, juveniles involved in person offense cases in 1999 were
slightly younger and more likely to be female. In 1999, 64% of person offense
cases involved juveniles younger than 16 years old, compared with 62% in
1990. Females were involved in 27% of person offense cases in 1999,
compared with 20% in 1990. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of person offense cases
in 1999 involved white youth, 34% involved black youth, and 3% involved
youth of other races.1

Case processing

Of the 387,100 person offense cases disposed by U.S. juvenile courts in 1999,
60% (233,200) were handled formally (that is, a petition was filed requesting
an adjudicatory or transfer hearing). Of these petitioned cases, slightly more
than 1% (2,500) were judicially waived to criminal court, more than half (63%
or 147,800) were formally adjudicated delinquent in the juvenile justice system,
and 36% (82,800) were petitioned but not adjudicated delinquent.

In 26% (38,100) of the 147,800 person offense cases formally adjudicated by
juvenile courts in 1999, the most severe disposition imposed by the court was
placement out of the home in a residential facility. Probation was ordered in
63% (92,500) of the cases, while 8% (11,400) resulted in other sanctions,
including referral to an outside agency, fines, community service, and restitution.
Approximately 4% (5,900) of formally adjudicated person offense cases were
released (i.e., no sanctions were ordered at the adjudicatory hearing).

In 1999, an estimated 82,800 person offense cases were formally petitioned by
the court but not adjudicated. Most (70% or 58,100) of these cases were
dismissed. In 13% (10,700) of these petitioned cases, the youth agreed to
informal probation; 15% (12,500) of these cases resulted in other dispositions.
About 2% of nonadjudicated person offense cases resulted in voluntary
out-of-home placement.

Forty-four percent (68,300) of the 153,900 person offense cases handled
informally (no petition was filed) by juvenile courts in 1999 were dismissed. The
remainder resulted in voluntary probation (34% or 52,300) or other
dispositions (21% or 33,100), while a small number (less than 1% or about
200) resulted in out-of-home placement.

For further information

This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report Juvenile Court Statistics
1999, which will be available on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention's (OJJDP's) Web site (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp). To learn more
about juvenile court cases, visit OJJDP's Statistical Briefing Book
(ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/index.html) and click on "Juveniles in Court." OJJDP
also supports Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics, a Web-based
application that analyzes the data files used for the Juvenile Court Statistics
Report. This application is available from the Statistical Briefing Book.

1 Juveniles of Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race, but most are included in the
white racial category.

Charles M. Puzzanchera is a Research Assistant with the National Juvenile
Court Data Archive, which is supported by an OJJDP grant.

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.