U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator June 2010

Person Offense Cases in
 

Juvenile Court, 2007
 by Sarah Hockenberry

Person offenses accounted for 25% of all 

delinquency cases in 2007 

U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated 409,200 delinquency 

cases in 2007 in which the most serious charge was an offense 

against a person. (Person offenses include assault, robbery, rape, 

homicide, and other crimes involving force or threat of force 

against persons.) The 2007 person offense caseload was 122% 

greater than in 1985. In 2007, person offenses accounted for 25% 

of the delinquency caseload, compared with 16% in 1985. 

In 2007, juvenile courts handled 13.1 person offense cases for 

every 1,000 juveniles age 10 through the upper age of original 

juvenile court jurisdiction. The 2007 person offense case rate was 

Person offense cases handled by juvenile courts, 

1985–2007 

Most severe 

disposition 1985 2007 

Percent change 

1985–2007 

Cases 

Total person offenses* 184,100 409,200 122% 

Violent Crime Index 64,500 86,300 34

 Criminal homicide 1,200 1,400 18

 Forcible rape 3,300 4,300 31

 Robbery 25,600 31,000 21

 Aggravated assault 34,400 49,600 44 

Simple assault 100,500 274,900 174 

Case rate** 

Total person offenses* 7.0 13.1 88% 

Violent Crime Index 2.4 2.8 13

 Criminal homicide 0.0 0.0 0

 Forcible rape 0.1 0.1 10

 Robbery 1.0 1.0 2

 Aggravated assault 1.3 1.6 22 

Simple assault 3.8 8.8 131 

* Total includes other person offense categories not listed. 

** Cases per 1,000 youth age 10 through the upper age of juvenile 

court jurisdiction. 

Note: Percent change is calculated using unrounded numbers. 

88% greater than the 1985 rate, but 6% less than the peak rate in 

1997. 

Homicide was the most serious charge in 1,400 cases handled 

in 2007. This amounted to less than 0.4% of all person offense 

cases that juvenile courts handled in 2007. The majority of person offense cases involved charges of simple assault (274,900) 

or aggravated assault (49,600). Together, these two offenses 

accounted for 79% of all person offense cases processed in 2007. 

Characteristics of offenders 

More than half (56%) of person offense cases in 2007 involved 

white youth, 41% involved black youth, 1% involved American 

Indian youth (includes Alaskan Native), and 1% involved Asian 

youth (includes Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander). 

Between 1985 and 2007, person offense case rates for black juveniles were substantially greater than those for the other racial 

groups; however, the case rate increased most for white youth 

(90%), followed by black youth (78%), Asian youth (64%), and 

American Indian youth (62%). Person offense case rates peaked 

for all racial groups during the 1990s and declined through the 

The person offense case rate for black youth increased 

annually between 2000 and 2005 

0 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25 

30 

35 

Cases per 1,000 juveniles ages 10–upper age 

85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 07 

Black 

American Indian 

White 

Asian 

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early 2000s. While the case rates were generally flat between 

2000 and 2007 for white, American Indian, and Asian youth, the 

case rate for black youth increased 16%, almost reaching its 1995 

peak rate. 

Compared with 1985, juveniles involved in person offense cases 

in 2007 were about the same age but more likely to be female. In 

2007, 61% of person offenses involved juveniles younger than 

16, compared with 62% in 1985. Between 1985 and 2007, the 

relative increase in the female caseload outpaced that of males 

for person offenses (233% vs. 95%). As a result, the female share 

of the person offense caseload has grown since 1985. For example, females accounted for about 21% of person offenses for each 

year between 1985 and 1991. Between 1991 and 2007, the 

female proportion of the person offense caseload steadily 

increased to 30%. 

Compared with males, the 2007 female delinquency caseload had 

a greater proportion of simple assault cases (21% vs. 12%) and 

an equal proportion of aggravated assault cases (3%). Even 

though assault cases increased both for males and females 

between 1985 and 2007, the growth in female assault cases 

exceeded the growth in male assault cases (230% vs. 112%). 

Case processing 

Of the 409,200 person offense cases that juvenile courts disposed 

in 2007, 58% (238,400) were handled formally (i.e., a petition 

was filed requesting an adjudicatory or transfer hearing). Of these 

petitioned cases, 60% (143,600) resulted in the youth being adjudicated delinquent in the juvenile justice system, 38% (90,700) 

resulted in the youth being adjudicated not delinquent, and 2% 

(4,100) were judicially waived to criminal court. 

The proportion of petitioned person offense cases judicially 

waived to criminal court peaked in 1994, when 2.6% (5,500) of 

such cases were waived. Since 1994, the likelihood of waiver has 

declined. By 2007, 1.7% (4,100) of the petitioned person offense 

caseload was waived. Although the likelihood of waiver has 

declined, person offense cases were more likely to be waived 

than cases involving other offenses in 2007. Cases involving 

males were four times as likely as those involving females to be 

judicially waived to criminal court in 2007, and cases involving 

juveniles age 16 or older were more likely to be waived than 

those involving juveniles younger than 16. In 2007, cases involving American Indian youth charged with a person offense were 

more likely to be judicially waived than person offense cases 

involving white, black, or Asian youth. 

In 29% (41,200) of the 143,600 person offense cases in which 

the youth was adjudicated delinquent in 2007, the most severe 

disposition imposed was placement out of the home in a residential facility. Probation was ordered in 58% (83,400) of the cases 

and 13% (19,000) resulted in other sanctions, including referral 

to an outside agency, fines, community service, and restitution. 

Among person offense cases in which youth were adjudicated 

delinquent, the percentage of youth ordered to out-of-home 

placement decreased between 1985 and 2007, and the percentage of youth ordered to probation remained the same. 

Demographic and case processing characteristics of 

person offense cases 

Characteristics 1985 1997 2007 

Gender 

Male 80% 73% 70% 

Female 20 27 30 

Age at referral 

15 or younger 62% 64% 61% 

16 or older 38 36 39 

Race/ethnicity 

White 59% 61% 56% 

Black 39 36 41 

American Indian 1 1 1 

Asian 1 1 1 

Predisposition detention 

Detained 25% 25% 28% 

Not detained 75 75 72 

Intake decision 

Petitioned 55% 60% 58% 

Not petitioned 45 40 42 

Judicial decision of petitioned cases 

Adjudicated delinquent 55% 58% 60% 

Not adjudicated delinquent 43 40 38 

Waived to criminal court 2 2 2 

Most severe disposition of adjuciated cases 

Placed 35% 30% 29% 

Probation 58 61 58 

Other 7 9 13 

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

In 2007, those most likely to receive a disposition of out-of-home 

placement for person offense cases were youth age 16 or older, 

males, and American Indian youth. Those most likely to be 

ordered to probation were youth age 15 or younger, females, and 

white youth. 

For further information 

This fact sheet is based on the report Juvenile Court Statistics 

2006–2007, which is available through OJJDP’s Web site (www. 

ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp). To learn more about juvenile court cases, 

visit OJJDP’s online Statistical Briefing Book (www.ojjdp.ncjrs. 

gov/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 “Data Analysis Tools” section of the Statistical Briefing Book. 

Sarah Hockenberry, M.S., a Research Assistant with the National Center 

for Juvenile Justice, prepared this document as a product of the National 

Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is supported by OJJDP grant 

2009–JL–FX–K129. 

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 Community Capacity 

Development Office; the National Institute of Justice; the Office for Victims 

of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, 

Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART). 

Fact Sheet NCJ 230169