Opinion ID: 2020023
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Juvenile Dispositional Orders

Text: When a person under the age of eighteen commits an act that would be an offense if committed by an adult, the person is adjudicated a delinquent child. Ind.Code §§ 31-37-1-1, -2 (2004). Upon finding that a child is delinquent, the juvenile court enters a dispositional decree providing for the placement of the child and other sanctions and treatment. Dispositional decrees are intended to promote rehabilitation. J.D. v. State, 853 N.E.2d 945, 947 (Ind.2006) (Our legislature has declared that it is the policy of this State and the purpose of our juvenile code to `ensure that children within the juvenile justice system are treated as persons in need of care, protection, treatment, and rehabilitation.' (quoting I.C. § 31-10-2-1(5))). The legislature has given juvenile courts a myriad of dispositional alternatives to fit the unique and varying circumstances of each child's problems. J.D., 853 N.E.2d at 947-48. The menu of dispositional options is found in Indiana Code sections 31-37-19-5 and 31-37-19-6. [2] Section 5 provides that the juvenile court may, in addition to an order under section 6 of this chapter, enter at least one (1) of the following dispositional decrees. The list that follows includes probation, outpatient treatment, surrender of driver's license, restitution, emancipation, attendance at an alcohol and drug program, community service, and, for certain acts, wardship of the DOC for a fixed period. Section 6 allows the juvenile court to enter any dispositional decree specified in section 5 of this chapter and authorizes awarding wardship to a juvenile detention facility, to the DOC for housing in a correctional facility for children, or to another person or facility. R.J.G. acknowledges that the plain language of Sections 5 and 6 clearly permits a dispositional order providing for both commitment to the DOC and subsequent probation. However, he contends that the options contained in Sections 5 and 6 are available only when a court has jurisdiction over the juvenile under Indiana Code section 31-30-2-1, which provides for jurisdiction over a delinquent child until: (1) the child becomes twenty-one (21) years of age, unless the court discharges the child and the child's parent, guardian, or custodian at an earlier time; or (2) the guardianship of the child is awarded to the department of correction. R.J.G. reasons that when the juvenile court ordered commitment to the DOC, it lost jurisdiction over him and could make no further dispositions until regaining jurisdiction. In support of this argument R.J.G. cites J.J.M. v. State, 779 N.E.2d 602 (Ind.Ct. App.2002). In J.J.M., the juvenile court's dispositional decree was the same as the one herethe juvenile court ordered the delinquent child to the Indiana Boys School followed by probation. 779 N.E.2d at 607. J.J.M. held that upon ordering guardianship of the child to the Department of Correction, the juvenile court is divested of jurisdiction and cannot order probation. Id. We think J.J.M. was incorrect on this point. Sections 5 and 6 allow a juvenile court to order at least one, i.e., potentially multiple, dispositions. Nothing prevents these from being accomplished in the same order. And there is no jurisdictional bar to ordering more than one disposition in the same order. The juvenile court has jurisdiction over the person and the subject matter at the time it makes its dispositional decree and therefore has jurisdiction at that time to order both probation and commitment to the DOC. R.J.G. also points to Indiana Code section 31-30-2-3, which permits the juvenile court to reinstate jurisdiction upon the juvenile's release from the DOC. R.J.G. argues that the legislature has provided this section as the exclusive means by which a juvenile court may order probation upon release from the DOC. However, entry of multiple dispositions in the initial order is not inconsistent with reinstatement of jurisdiction for additional dispositions upon release from the DOC. Providing the juvenile court with the option to reinstate jurisdiction does not foreclose an initial order including probation. It merely preserves flexibility in crafting a dispositional order and allows deferring decisions as to the need for additional dispositions.