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Juvenile Attorney
Juvenile Law in GA is basically made up of three legal areas.
These are: Deprivation Cases, Unruly Cases, and Delinquency
Cases.
Juvenile / DUI / Criminal Defense / Personal Injury / Civil Litigation
Jurisdiction:
The Juvenile
Courts in GA have jurisdiction over all persons age 17 or under.
The determining factor is the age of the accused (or deprived)
person at the time that the incident occurred.
Deprivation Cases:
In this area of
juvenile law in GA, the juvenile court is dealing with a child
that may be in danger of being deprived or harmed in some way.
The juvenile court has broad jurisdiction to place a deprived
child into the custody of any family member who can care for the
child, or the court can place the child in the custody of the
state until such time as a proper and safe home can be found for
the child. The juvenile court is mainly concerned for the best
interest of the child in deprivation cases.
Unruly Cases:
In unruly cases in juvenile law in GA, the court is dealing
with a child who has not, and will not, obeyed their parent(s),
and the court must intervene to assist the parent(s) in
controlling the behavior of the child. In these types of cases,
a crime doesn’t necessarily need to have been committed – the
focus in unruly types of cases is the unruly and (usually)
uncontrollable behavior of the child. The court has broad
discretion in unruly cases in issuing orders that protect the
child, discipline the child, or direct the parents or
guardian(s) of the child to do certain things for the benefit of
the family and/or child.
Delinquency
Cases:
Under GA
juvenile law, delinquency cases are the equivalent of criminal
cases for adults.
Most crimes committed by persons under 17 at the time the crime
was committed, stay in juvenile court. If the person committed
what is called a “designated felony act,” then punishment is
more severe, and, in some cases the case may be sent to the
Superior Court for prosecution. The judge in juvenile court has
very broad discretion to take custody of the child, sentence the
child to the custody of the Georgia Department of Juvenile
Justice, release the child to their parents, etc. Punishment in
a delinquency case can range from an “informal adjustment”
(which is the equivalent of a “dismissal” in adult criminal
law), to being sentenced to the custody of the local Youth
Development Center (which is the equivalent of adult jail).
There are no jury trials in the juvenile courts in GA. All cases
in juvenile court are heard only by the juvenile court judge.
Have a case in Juvenile Court in GA? You better take it
seriously! Call Robert Speer, The Magic Lawyer® at
770-517-0017.