U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

J. Robert Flores, Administrator February 2008 #02 

Petitioned Status Offense Cases in


Juvenile Courts, 2004


by Anne L. Stahl 

Counts and Trends1 

In 2004, juvenile courts in the United States formally processed an 

estimated 159,400 status offense cases. Only a juvenile court can 

adjudicate status offenses (acts that are considered illegal only 

when juveniles commit them). Once a status offense case has 

been referred for court intake, the court must decide whether to 

process the case by filing a petition or to refer the youth away 

from the juvenile justice system to other juvenile service agencies. 

This Fact Sheet discusses petitioned status offense cases in five 

major categories: running away, truancy, curfew law violations, 

ungovernability, and underage liquor law violations.2 

Offense profile of petitioned status offense cases, 

1995 and 2004 

Most serious offense 1995 2004 

Total 100% 100% 

Running away 17 13 

Truancy 29 35 

Curfew violations 10 10 

Ungovernability 14 14 

Liquor law violations 23 19 

Miscellaneous offenses 7 9 

Detail may not total 100% because of rounding. 

Between 1995 and 2004, the number of petitioned status offense 

cases that juvenile courts handled increased 39%—truancy cases 

increased 69%, curfew violation cases increased 38%, ungovernability cases increased 38%, and liquor law violation cases 

increased 17%. The number of petitioned runaway cases remained 

relatively stable between 1995 and 2004. 

1 Each case represents one youth processed by a juvenile court on a new referral, 

regardless of the number of individual offenses contained in that referral. A youth 

can be involved in more than one case during the calendar year. 

2 Other behaviors that may be considered to be status offenses, such as tobacco 

violations, are included under miscellaneous offenses and are not discussed 

independently. 

Compared with 1995, smaller proportions of the petitioned status 

offense caseload in 2004 involved runaway cases and liquor law 

violations; a larger proportion involved truancy cases. 

Gender 

Between 1995 and 2004, the petitioned status offense caseload for 

girls increased 42% compared with a 37% increase in caseload for 

boys. In 2004, boys accounted for 56% of the total petitioned status 

offense caseload—63% of status liquor law violation cases, 65% of 

curfew violation cases, 54% of truancy cases, and 55% of ungovernability cases. Girls accounted for the majority of petitioned runaway cases (62%), the only status offense category in 2004 in which 

girls represented a larger proportion of the caseload than boys. 

Petitioned status offense caseloads by gender, 2004 

Percent 

70 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

Running Truancy Curfew Ungovern- Liquor law 

away violations ability violations 

Males Females 

Age 

In 2004, 60% of petitioned status offense cases involved a juvenile younger than age 16 at the time of referral. Juveniles younger 

than age 16 accounted for 73% of ungovernable cases, 71% of 

truancy cases, 62% of runaway cases, 53% of curfew violation 

cases, and 31% of the liquor law violation caseload. 

Office of Justice Programs Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods www.ojp.usdoj.gov 
2004 

Race 

In 2004, truancy cases made up the largest proportion of the petitioned status offense caseloads for juveniles of all races, with the 

exception of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth for 

whom liquor law violation cases constituted the greatest proportion of petitioned cases. 

Offense profile of petitioned status offense cases by race, 

Most serious offense White Black AI/AN 	 Asian/ 

NHPI* 

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 

Running away 11 19 5 22 

Truancy 35 36 24 40 

Curfew violations 9 11 16 13 

Ungovernability 13 23 2 2 

Liquor law violations 23 4 47 15 

Miscellaneous 9 8 6 8 

Detail may not total 100% because of rounding. 

*The racial classification Asian/NHPI includes Asian, Native Hawaiian, and 

other Pacific Islander. 

Source of Referral 

A number of sources, including law enforcement agencies, 

schools, relatives, social service agencies, probation officers, and 

victims, can refer juveniles who engage in status offenses to court 

intake. In 2004, the source of referral varied substantially with the 

nature of the offense: law enforcement agencies referred 50% of 

all petitioned status offense cases, schools referred 72% of truancy cases, and relatives referred 42% of ungovernability cases. 

Law enforcement referred the largest proportion of runaway, curfew, and liquor law violation cases. 

Status Running 

away 

Truancy Curfew 

violations

Ungovernability Liquor law 

violations

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Proportion of petitioned cases referred, 2004 

Law enforcement School Relative Other 

Proportion of petitioned status offense cases by referral 

type, 2004 

Detention 

In 2004, juveniles were securely detained in 7% of petitioned 

status offense cases, about the same proportion as in 1995 (6%). 

Before 1997, runaway cases comprised the largest proportion of 

the detained status offense caseload. Since that time, however, 

cases involving liquor law violations have accounted for the 

largest share of detentions—28% in 2004. 

Adjudication and Disposition 

Adjudicatory hearings establish responsibility for an alleged act; 

courts hold disposition hearings to decide what sanctions they 

should impose on a juvenile who has been adjudicated. The likelihood of adjudication for petitioned status offense cases was 63% 

in 2004, compared with 50% in 1995. Among the status offense 

categories in 2004, adjudication was least likely in petitioned runaway cases (43%) and most likely in cases involving liquor law 

violations (78%). The likelihood of adjudication for petitioned 

curfew violation cases in 2004 (73%) was higher than that for 

both truancy (58%) and ungovernability cases (57%). 

In 2004, truancy cases were the largest share of the adjudicated 

status offense caseload that resulted in out-of-home placement. 

With the exception of cases involving truancy and liquor law 

violations, the likelihood that an adjudicated status offense case 

would result in out-of-home placement decreased for each of the 

major status offense categories between 1995 and 2004. 

Probation was the most restrictive disposition used in 52% of the 

petitioned status offense cases in 2004. Courts ordered probation 

in 70% of adjudicated ungovernability cases, 64% of runaway 

cases, 61% of cases involving truancy, 48% of cases involving 

liquor law violations, and 20% of curfew violation cases. 

In 2004, the juvenile was not adjudicated a status offender in 37% 

of formally handled cases; the court dismissed 87% of these cases, 

3% resulted in informal probation, and in 10% of these cases, the 

youth voluntarily agreed to other informal dispositions such as 

community service. 

For Further Information 

This Fact Sheet is based on the report Juvenile Court Statistics 

2003–2004, which is available on OJJDP’s Web site (www.ojp. 

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

OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book at www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ 

ojstatbb/index.html and click on “Juveniles in Court.” 

Anne L. Stahl is Manager of the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, 

which is supported by OJJDP grant 2005–JL–FX–0250. 

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 FS–200802