Title: Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1989-1998

Series: Fact Sheet

Author: Meghan C. Black

Published: August 2001

Subject: Juvenile courts; Adjudication juvenile
cases; Case processing

4 pages

6,000 bytes

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Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1989-1998

by Meghan C. Black

Person offenses accounted for 23% of all 
delinquency cases in 1998

In 1998, U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated
403,800 delinquency cases in which the most serious
charge was an offense against a person. Person
offenses include assault, robbery, rape, and
homicide. The 1998 person offense caseload was 88%
greater than in 1989. Person offense cases accounted
for 23% of all delinquency cases in 1998, compared
with 18% in 1989.

In 1998, U.S. juvenile courts handled 13.9 person
offense cases for every 1,000 juveniles age 10
through the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction.
The person offense case rate increased 64% between
1989 and 1998. In contrast, the case rate for
property offenses decreased 4% between 1989 and 1998,
while the drug offense case rate grew 115% and the
rate for public order offenses increased 51%.

Homicide was the most serious charge in 2,000 cases
handled in 1998. This was less than 0.5% of all
person offense cases handled by juvenile courts in
1998. The majority of person offense cases involved
charges of simple assault (262,400) or aggravated
assault (65,100). Together, these two offenses
accounted for 81% of all person offense cases
processed in 1998.

Characteristics of offenders

Compared with 1989, juveniles involved in person
offense cases in 1998 were younger and more likely to
be female. In 1998, 64% of person offense cases
involved juveniles younger than 16 years old,
compared with 62% in 1989. Females were involved in
28% of person offense cases in 1998, compared with
20% in 1989. More than half (62%) of person offense
cases in 1998 involved white youth, 35% involved
black youth, and 3% involved youth of other races.

Case processing

Of the 403,800 person offense cases disposed by U.S.
juvenile courts in 1998, 59% (236,500) were handled
formally (that is, a petition was filed requesting an
adjudicatory or transfer hearing). Of these
petitioned cases, slightly more than 1% (2,900) were
waived to the criminal justice system, more than half
(61% or 143,800) were formally adjudicated delinquent
in the juvenile justice system, and 38% (92,700) were
petitioned but not adjudicated delinquent.

In 27% (39,300) of the 143,800 person offense cases
formally adjudicated by juvenile courts in 1998, the
most severe disposition imposed by the court was
placement out of the home in a residential facility.
Probation was ordered in 58% (83,000) of the cases,
while 9% (13,300) resulted in other sanctions,
including referral to an outside agency, fines,
community service, and restitution. Approximately 6%
(8,200) of formally adjudicated person offense cases
were released (i.e., no sanctions were ordered at the
adjudicatory hearing).


In 1998, an estimated 92,700 person offense cases
were formally petitioned by the court but not
adjudicated. Most (69% or 64,300) of these cases were
dismissed. In 13% (12,500) of these petitioned cases,
the youth agreed to informal probation; 12% (10,800)
of these cases resulted in other dispositions. About
2% of nonadjudicated person offense cases resulted in
voluntary out-of-home placement.

Almost half (48% or 80,400) of the 167,300 person
offense cases handled informally (no petition was
filed) by juvenile courts in 1998 were dismissed. The
remainder resulted in voluntary probation (34% or
56,600) or other dispositions (18% or 30,000), while
a small number (less than 1% or about 300) resulted
in out-of-home placement.

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For further information

This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report
Juvenile Court Statistics 1998, which will be
available on OJJDP's Web site at ojjdp.ncjrs.org. 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.

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Meghan C. Black, Esq., is a Research Assistant with
the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is
supported by an OJJDP grant.

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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.



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FS 200132