Title: Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1988-
1997
Series: Fact Sheet
Author: Meghan C. Scahill
Published: May 2000
Subject: Juvenile courts, Adjudication, Juvenile
cases
3 pages
5,000 bytes

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Person Offense Cases in Juvenile Court, 1988-1997

by Meghan C. Scahill

Person offenses accounted for 22% of all
delinquency cases in 1997

In 1997, U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated
390,800 delinquency cases in which the most
serious charge was an offense against a person.
Person offenses include assault, robbery, rape,
and homicide. The 1997 person offense caseload was
97% greater than in 1988. Person offense cases
accounted for 22% of all delinquency cases in
1997, compared with 17% in 1988. 

In 1997, juvenile courts handled 13.6 person
offense cases for every 1,000 juveniles in the
United States age 10 through the upper age of
juvenile court jurisdiction. The person offense
case rate increased 74% between 1988 and 1997. In
contrast, the case rate for property offenses
increased 5% between 1988 and 1997, while the drug
offense case rate grew 99% and the rate for public
order offenses increased 48%. 

Homicide was the most serious charge in 2,000
cases handled in 1997. This was less than 0.5% of
all person offense cases handled by juvenile
courts in 1997. The majority of person offense
cases involved charges of simple assault (248,800)
or aggravated assault (67,900). Together, these
two offenses accounted for 81% of all person
offense cases processed in 1997.

Characteristics of offenders

Compared with 1988, juveniles involved in person
offense cases in 1997 were younger and more likely
to be female. In 1997, 64% (248,700) of person
offense cases involved juveniles under age 16,
compared with 60% (119,200) in 1988. Females were
involved in 26% (102,800) of person offense cases
in 1997, compared with 20% (40,400) in 1988. Sixty
percent (235,900) of person offense cases in 1997
involved white youth, 37% (144,400) involved black
youth, and 3% (10,500) involved youth of other
races.

Case processing

Of the 390,800 person offense cases disposed by
U.S. juvenile courts in 1997, 58% (228,200) were
handled formally (that is, a petition was filed
requesting an adjudicatory or transfer hearing).
Of the individuals involved in petitioned cases,
slightly more than 1% (3,300) were waived to the
criminal court system, more than half (55% or
125,500) were formally adjudicated as delinquents
in the juvenile court, and 44% (99,400) were
petitioned but not adjudicated delinquent. 

In 30% of the 125,500 person offense cases that
were formally adjudicated by juvenile courts in
1997, the most severe disposition imposed by the
court was placement out of the home in a
residential facility. Probation was ordered in 56%
(70,800) of the cases, while 9% (11,700) resulted
in other sanctions, including referral to an
outside agency, fines, community service, and
restitution. Approximately 4% (5,600) of formally
adjudicated person offense cases were released,
i.e., no sanctions were ordered by the court at
the adjudicatory hearing. 

In 1997, an estimated 99,400 person offense cases
were formally petitioned by the court but not
adjudicated. Most (61% or 64,400) of these cases
were dismissed; in 22% (21,400) the youth agreed
to informal probation and in 15% (15,300) to other
dispositions. About 2% (2,300) of nonadjudicated
person offense cases resulted in voluntary
out-of-home placement.

Half (50%) of the 162,500 person offense cases
handled informally (no petition was filed) by
juvenile courts in 1997 were dismissed. The
remainder resulted in voluntary probation (31% or
50,900) or other dispositions (18% or 29,200),
while a small number (less than 1% or fewer than
900) resulted in out-of-home placement. 

For further information

This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report
Juvenile Court Statistics 1997. Copies will be
available from the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Juvenile
Justice Clearinghouse, 800-638-8736. OJJDP also
supports distribution of a PC-compatible software
version of the data analyzed in Juvenile Court
Statistics. For a free copy of the software, Easy
Access to Juvenile Court Statistics, call the
National Juvenile Court Data Archive at the
National Center for Juvenile Justice, 412-227-
6950. This software can also be downloaded from
OJJDP's home page: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org.

Meghan C. Scahill is a Research Assistant with the
National Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is
supported by an OJJDP grant.