Opinion ID: 4472525
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the bindover statute

Text: {¶ 3} Under R.C. 2151.23(A)(1), “[t]he juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction    [c]oncerning any child who on or about the date specified in the complaint, indictment, or information is alleged    to be    a delinquent    child.” But if a child2 is old enough and is alleged to have committed an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, the juvenile court may (or may be required to) transfer its jurisdiction to the appropriate adult court for criminal prosecution. See R.C. 2152.10(A) (eligibility for mandatory transfer) and 2152.10(B) (eligibility for discretionary transfer). This transfer occurs through a statutory process that “is generally referred to as a bindover procedure.” State v. Wilson, 73 Ohio St.3d 40, 43, 652 N.E.2d 196 (1995). 2. As relevant here, “child” is generally defined in both R.C. 2151.011(B)(6) and 2152.02(C)(1) as a person under age 18. 2 January Term, 2020 {¶ 4} The procedural requirements for bindover are provided in R.C. 2152.12. In general terms, if a child appears to be eligible for mandatory transfer, the juvenile court must conduct a hearing to determine whether he meets the eligibility criteria and whether there is probable cause to believe that he committed the act charged. See R.C. 2152.12(A)(1); see also Juv. R. 30(A). When a child appears to be eligible for discretionary transfer, the juvenile court, in addition to determining eligibility and probable cause, must determine whether the child is “amenable to care or rehabilitation within the juvenile system” and whether “the safety of the community    require[s] that the child be subject to adult sanctions.” R.C. 2152.12(B)(3). {¶ 5} Unless the alleged juvenile offender is taken into custody or apprehended after age 21, he “shall [not] be prosecuted as an adult” for the offense “unless [he] has been transferred as provided in” R.C. 2152.12(A) or (B). R.C. 2152.12(H). Such a transfer “abates the jurisdiction of the juvenile court with respect to the delinquent acts alleged in the complaint, and, upon the transfer,    the case then shall be within the jurisdiction of the court to which it is transferred.” R.C. 2152.12(I). {¶ 6} This appeal involves the bindover statute’s notice provision, R.C. 2152.12(G), which provides that a juvenile court “shall give notice in writing of the time, place, and purpose of any hearing held pursuant to division (A) or (B) of this section to the child’s parents, guardian, or other custodian and to the child’s counsel at least three days prior to the hearing.”