NCJ Number
131342
Date Published
1988
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Maryland's Juvenile Services Agency appointed a task force in January 1988 to study the waiver of juveniles into adult courts.
Abstract
The need for such a task force was based on the fact that between 300 and 500 youth a year are either waived into adult courts or are sent directly to adult courts because of the type of offense they allegedly committed. The purpose of the task force was to study the reasons why youth are tried in adult courts and make recommendations on how the number of waived youth can be reduced. The task force specifically found that juvenile arrests decreased by 10.4 percent between 1982 and 1987. Cases waived from juvenile court also declined by 25.2 percent during the same period. The number of juveniles admitted to the Maryland Division of Correction decreased from 282 in 1982 to 182 in 1987, a decline of 35.5 percent. In fiscal year 1987, 221 juveniles were placed on adult probation. In February 1988, 88 inmates in custody in the Division of Correction were under 18 years of age; 62 percent of this group were serving terms of less than 5 years. The task force recommends that the Juvenile Services Agency construct two, 40-bed secure juvenile correctional facilities for juvenile offenders who could otherwise have been waived and for those who could have been transferred from adult court to juvenile court. The task force also recommends that the Juvenile Services Agency consistently require a waiver/transfer report, that a new section be added to the existing waiver statute to require a probable cause hearing before the issue of waiver is heard, and that probation and aftercare services be improved to reduce the need for waiver. 4 footnotes and 3 tables