Statutes

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities

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Statutes

Q:	How do judicial waiver criteria vary by state?
A:	Most states with judicial waiver provisions specify minimum age and offense criteria to aid the decision to transfer.

Judicial waiver offense and minimum age criteria, 2004

State	Minimum age for judicial waiver	Judicial waiver offense and minimum age criteria
State	Minimum age for judicial waiver	Any criminal offense	Certain felonies	Capital crimes	Murder	Certain person offenses	Certain property offenses	Certain drug offenses	Certain weapon offenses

Alabama	14	14
Alaska	NS	NS				NS
Arizona	NS		NS

Arkansas	14		14	14	14	14			14
California	14		16		14	14	14	14
Colorado	12		12		12	12

Connecticut	14		14	14	14
Delaware	NS	NS	15		NS	NS	16	15
District of Columbia	NS	16	15		15	15	15		NS

Florida	14	14
Georgia	13	15		13	14	13	15
Hawaii	NS		14		NS

Idaho	NS	14	NS		NS	NS	NS	NS
Illinois	13	13	15
Indiana	NS	14	NS		10			16

Iowa	14	14
Kansas	10	10	14			14		14
Kentucky	14		14	14

Louisiana	14				14	14
Maine	NS		NS		NS	NS
Maryland	NS	15		NS

Michigan	14		14
Minnesota	14		14
Mississippi	13	13

Missouri	12		12
Nevada	14	14	14			14
New Hampshire	13		15		13	13		15

New Jersey	14	14	14		14	14	14	14	14
North Carolina	13		13	13
North Dakota	14	16	14		14	14		14

Ohio	14		14		14	16	16
Oklahoma	NS		NS
Oregon	NS		15		NS	NS	15

Pennsylvania	14		14			14	14
Rhode Island	NS	NS	16	NS	17	17
South Carolina	NS	16	14		NS	NS

South Dakota	NS		NS
Tennessee	NS	16			NS	NS
Texas	14		14	14				14

Utah	14		14		16	16	16		16
Vermont	10				10	10	10
Virginia	14		14		14	14

Washington	NS	NS
West Virginia	NS		NS		NS	NS	NS	NS
Wisconsin	14	15	14		14	14	14	14
Wyoming	13	13

Note: Ages in the minimum age column may not apply to all offense restrictions, but represent the youngest possible age at which a juvenile may be judicially waived to criminal court. "NS" indicates that no minimum age is specified.

[ Excel file ]

All States have provisions for trying certain juveniles as adults in criminal court. This is known as transfer to criminal court. There are three basic transfer mechanisms: judicial waiver, statutory exclusion, and concurrent jurisdiction.
Under judicial waiver provisions the juvenile court judge has the authority to waive juvenile court jurisdiction and transfer the case to criminal court.
Waiver provisions vary in terms of the degree of flexibility allowed. Some waiver provisions are entirely discretionary. In other provisions there is a rebuttable presumption in favor of waiver, and in others waiver is mandatory once the juvenile court judge determines that certain statutory criteria have been met.
As of the end of the 2004 legislative session, 45 states and the District of Columbia allow juvenile court judges to waive jurisdiction over certain cases and transfer them to criminal court, a practice known as judicial waiver.
Age and offense criteria are common components of judicial waiver provisions, but other factors come into play as well. For example, most state statutes limit judicial waiver to juveniles who are "no longer amenable to treatment." The specific factors that determine lack of amenability vary, but they typically include the juvenile's offending history and previous dispositional outcomes.
Many (18) states with judicial waiver provisions establish 14 as the minimum age for waiver, but there is variation across states. The provisions in Kansas and Vermont, for example, permit 10-year-olds to be waived.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/structure_process/qa04110.asp?qaDate=2004. Released on March 27, 2006.

Adapted from Snyder, H. & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report, Chapter 4. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Material originally compiled by P. Griffin for the National Center for Juvenile Justice's State Juvenile Justice Profiles website.