Unit of Count:  Juvenile

 

The filing document in a juvenile action is generally a petition.  Count the filing of the petition with the clerk of court as the beginning of a juvenile case.  For juvenile cases of a criminal nature, count the filing of the original charging document (petition, complaint, or information) as the beginning of the case in trial courts.  The Grand Total Dispositions figure should be an aggregate count of the total number of cases in that category disposed by the court during the reporting period.  Report the number of juvenile filings and dispositions by case type, according to the subject matter at issue as defined in the Juvenile Case Type Definitions.

 

In a juvenile case, count each juvenile and all actions involved in a single incident as a single case.  If the filing document contains multiple juveniles involved in a single incident, count each juvenile as a single case.

 

Please note that the following case types involving juveniles should not be reported in the Juvenile caseload:

 

o       Juvenile traffic cases should be included in the appropriate Traffic, Parking, and Local Ordinance case type category.

 

o       Child support cases and paternity/bastardy cases should be included in the appropriate Domestic Relations case type category.

 

o       Criminal cases involving the molesting or abuse of children should be included in the appropriate Criminal case type category.

 

o       Guardianship petitions involving juveniles are civil cases and should be reported in Civil as part of the Probate/Estate caseload under Guardianship - Juvenile.

 

o       Court actions that are directed against adults as the result of adult relationships to juveniles should not be classified as juvenile petitions.  An example of these types of cases is support/custody cases; such a case would be reported in the appropriate Domestic Relations case type category.

 

 

The Manner of Disposition matrix provides a means to report the manner in which juvenile cases were disposed.  For cases involving multiple parties/issues, the manner of disposition should not be reported until all parties/issues have been resolved.  When there is more than one type of dispositive action in a case, count as the disposition the action requiring the most judicial involvement. Prioritize the dispositive actions as follows:

 

·        Adjudicated after evidentiary hearing

·        Waivered/certified/transferred to adult court

·        Other trial dispositions

·        Deferred or stayed adjudication or findings

·        Adjudicated by plea/stipulation

·        Disposed by alternative dispute resolution

·        Adjudicated by default

·        Dismissed/non-adjudicated

·        Transferred to another juvenile court

·        Other

 

Notes:

 

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): When a case has been referred by the court to alternative dispute resolution, we recommend that the court note the referral and track subsequent case activity under the case number initially assigned.  The court should report the number of cases resolved through ADR processes in the Alternative Dispute Resolution column of the Manner of Disposition matrix.

 

Consolidated case: This is a case in which two or more petitions/petition subjects (either adult or juvenile) named in separate filing documents are adjudicated together, or in which a given adult/juvenile is adjudicated on matters contained in two or more filing documents.  In reporting trial court dispositions, all the cases except the one into which the cases were consolidated should be reported as disposed at the time of consolidation, and the disposition(s) should be reported in the Manner of Disposition matrix under Other Civil Dispositions.  When the consolidated case has been decided, the disposition should be reported under the appropriate manner of disposition category.

 

Inactive case: Cases that are administratively classified as inactive should be reported in the Caseload Summary matrix as Placed on Inactive Status. When the case is reactivated, report it as a Reactivated case, classified by case type.  For example, a juvenile case should be placed on inactive pending status if the defendant has absconded, an arrest order has been issued, and the court has suspended activity until the defendant is apprehended.

 

Reopened case: Cases in which a judgment has previously been entered but which have been restored to the court’s pending caseload due to the filing of a request to modify or enforce that existing judgment should be reported in the Caseload Summary matrix as Reopened. When the reopened case is disposed of, report the case in the Caseload Summary matrix in the Dispositions column in the column labeled Reopened.  For example, a juvenile case that was previously disposed but then returned to the court’s pending docket by an allegation that the offender violated the terms of his or her probation should be considered a reopened case.