NCJ Number
201354
Date Published
March 2003
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This report presents an overview of statistical analysis of Texas juvenile justice population trends for the years 1991 through 2001.
Abstract
Since 1997, juvenile arrests in Texas have been declining after experiencing an increase between 1991 and 1996. The number of juvenile arrests in 2001 was 23 percent lower than the number of juvenile arrests in 1996. The same trend occurred with referrals to juvenile probation departments, with juvenile referrals decreasing by 15 percent from their peak in 1995. Trends in juvenile case dispositions for the year 2001 are discussed, with a total of 112,784 cases disposed in Texas during 2001. Formal dispositions comprised 26 percent of all dispositions, with 91 percent of these formal dispositions adjudicated to probation. Eight percent of the formally disposed cases in 2001 ended with juveniles committed to the Texas Youth Commission (TYC). New commitments to the TYC decreased from 3,188 in 1998 to 2,406 in 2001, representing the lowest commitment rate in Texas since 1995. Statistical analysis is also offered on juvenile detainees by gender, age, type of offense, and time held in juvenile detention.