Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Courts, 1994

• NCJ Number: 198493
• Author(s): Jeffrey A. Butts Ph.D.
• Date Published: October 1996
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Statistics

Annotation

This report provides information on the number of delinquency cases processed in juvenile courts in the United States in 1994 and includes data on juveniles and case dispositions.

Abstract

Juvenile courts in the United States processed an estimated 1,555,200 delinquency cases in 1994 involving juveniles charged with criminal law violations including person offenses, property offenses, drug law violations, and public order offenses. The information was based on data from over 1,800 courts having jurisdiction over 67 percent of the U.S. juvenile population in 1994. Juveniles were securely detained in 21 percent of delinquency cases processed in 1994 with detention used in 28 percent of drug law violations. More than 22 percent of all delinquency cases in 1994 were dismissed at intake. Dismissal of the case often resulted due to lack of legal sufficiency. In 1994, juvenile court judges transferred 12,300 delinquency cases to criminal court. Juveniles were adjudicated in more than 58 percent of the 855,200 cases brought before a judge in 1994 with the majority being placed on probation. In relation to gender, age, and race the information indicated that nearly 79 percent of the delinquency cases involved a male juvenile, 61 percent of the juvenile delinquency cases processed in 1994 involved a juvenile under the age of 16, and approximately 80 percent of the juvenile population was white and 15 percent was Black.