NCJ Number
152031
Date Published
1993
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of a survey sent to all juvenile courts in Ohio, requesting information on youths transferred to criminal court for trial in fiscal year 1992.
Abstract
Fiscal year 1992 was selected because countywide data on youth adjudicated delinquent for felony offenses were available for that time period. Eighty-seven counties responded with the requested information. In fiscal year 1992, 280 youths in 39 counties were transferred to criminal court for trial, following judicial waiver procedures. The number of youths transferred in individual counties ranged from 1 in 20 counties to 125 in Hamilton County. Fourteen small urban counties and 34 rural counties had no youth transferred in fiscal year 1992. The 280 youths were transferred with 545 offenses, an average of 1.9 per youth. The six largest counties accounted for two-thirds of the youths committed to the Ohio Department of Youth Services and transferred 75 percent of the juveniles bound over to criminal court. Juveniles bound over to criminal court were overwhelmingly males who were at or near the statutory age of adult jurisdiction. Two-thirds of the juveniles transferred to criminal court were African-Americans. Almost two-thirds of all juveniles transferred to criminal court were charged with a violent offense; 18.2 percent were charged with serious property offenses, and 16.1 percent were transferred for drug offenses. Other data address the offense history of those transferred. Overall the data show that use of judicial waiver to transfer juveniles to adult court is used sparingly in Ohio and is most often used for youths within a year of their legal age of adult court jurisdiction. Most of these juveniles have been in juvenile court several times before they were transferred. Tabular and graphic data