AG 1999 01 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

December 1998 Administration of Justice Bulletin No. 98/03 new code reorgarazes but retains the substance of cur- rent law relating to abused, neglected, and dependent juveniles, except as that law is amended by the Adop- tion and Safe Families Act, S.L. t998-229 (H 1720), which is described above. In relation to delinquem and undisciplined juveniles, on the other hand. the new code reflects major substantive changes. The act also relocates into new Chapter 7B (from Chapters 7A. 110. and 134A) various other juvenile laws, including those relating to termination of paren- tal rights, the Guardian Ad Litem Program, prevention of child abuse and neglect, the North Carolina Child Fatality, Prevention System, parental control ofchil- ch-em juvenile services, youth services, and interstate placements of juveniles. It does not retain the current law's provisions for a Juvenile Law Study Commission. New G.S. Chapter 7B is divided into five sub- chapters, as follows: I. Abuse, Neglect, Dependency. H. Undisciplined and Delinquent Juveniles III. Juvenile Records IV. Parental Authority: Emancipation V. Placement of Juveniles Ptdrpose$ In relation to delinquent and undisciplined juve- niles, the new Juvenile Code places a stronger empha- sis on protection of the public, on deterring juvenile delinquency, on the timeliness of juvenile justice pro- cedures, and on juveniles' and parents' accountability. At the same time. it continues to emphasize, in the dispesitional phase of juvenite proceedings, the evaluation ofjuvemles' needs and the provision of appropriate treatment and rehabilitative services. It provides substantially more structure for the court in determining dispositions, including whether a delin- quent juvetule will receive services in the community or in a tminmg school. Definitions Subchapter II of G.S. Chapter 7B--the part of the new code that deals with undisciplined and delinquent juveniles--includes the following newly defined terms. 1. "House arrest" means a requirement that the juvenile remain at the juvenile's residence unless the court or the juvenile court coun- selor authorizes the juvenile to leave for specific purposes. 2. "Post-release supem'ision," which replaces the term "aftercare," means the supervision of a juveulle who has been returned to the com- mumty after having been commiued to the Office of Juvenile Justice (Oit) for placement in a training school. 3. "Teen court program" means a community resom'ce for the diversion of certain cases, for heating by a jury of the juvenile's peers, which may assign the juvenile to counseling, restitution, curfews, commumty service, or other rehabilitative measures. 4. "Training school" means a secure residential facility authorized to provide long-term treatment, education, and rehabilitative services for delinquent juveniles committed by the court tO the O J J, The new code does not use the term "in loco parentis.' Instead, the substance of the former defini- tion appears in places where the term previously appeared. Changes in the definition of "undisciplined juvenile" are described in the following section. Jurisdiction--Undisciplined Juveniles S,L. 1998-202 rewrites the definition of "undisci- plined juvenile," and thereby extends the applicability of juvenile procedures and the court's jurisdiction, to include sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds (except for the part of the definition that refers to unla,~Tul absence from school). The maximum age of jurisdic- tion continues to be eighteen. Jurisdiction may termi- nate earlier by order of the court, and it terminates automatically ff the juvenile is emancipated. For all juveniles, the new definition includes run- aways only if they nm away from home for a period of more than twenty-four hours. The precious definition did not specify any pei'iod of time. Jurisdiction Delinquent Juveniles The definition of"delinquent juvenile" continues to refer to juveniles who commit crimes or infractions while at least six years of age and not yet sixteen. As under former law, a juvenile who commits a criminal offense on or after the juvenile's sixteenth birthday is subject to prosecution as an adult. In addition, S.L. 1998-202 provides that ifa juve- nile has been transferred to and convicted in superior court, the juvenile is subject to prosecution as an adult for any offense the juvenile commits aRer the superior Il