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Administration of Justice Bulletin No. 95/0J December 1998 Contempt On motion of the court counselor or the court's own motion, the court may order an undisciplined juvenile to appear and show cause why he or she should not be held in contempt for willfully failing to comply with an order of the court. The court must appoint counsel for a juvenile who is alleged to be in contempt unless counsel is retained for the juvenile. For a first finding of contempt, the court may order the juvenile confined in an approved detention facility for up to 24 hours; for a second finding up to three days: and for a thffd or subsequent finding, up to five days. The court in its discretion determines the timing of any confinement. The new section, G.S. 7B-2505, prohibits confining a juvenile for contempt for more than four- teen days in one twelve-month period. Dispositions Delinquent Juveniles Dispositional Alternatives The new code retains many dispositionai alterna- tives that were available in delinquency cases under the former law and adds additional alternatives. As explained below, however, not ail dispositions are available m every case. The code directs the court, in choosing among those that are available, to select the most appropriate disposition--not, as required previously, the least restrictive disposition that is appropriate. Within the statuto ,fy gmdelines, the court must select a disposition designed to protect the public and to meet the needs and best interests of the juvenile, based on the following: 1. the seriousness of the offense, 2. the need to hold the juvenile accountable, 3. the importance of protecting the public safety, 4. the degree of culpability indicated by thc cir- cumstances of the case, 5. the rehabilitative and treaanent needs of the juvenile, as indicated by a risk and needs assessment, and 6. except where commitment to u-ainmg school is required, appropriate community resources available to meet thejuvenile's needs. In addition to the evaluation and treatment options described above, the code lists twenty-four disposi- tional alternatives. These are divided into three "levels"--conununlty, intermediate, mad commitment. (One disposition is assigned to two levels.) The level or levels from which the court may or must select in ordering a disposition in a given case depend on the seriousness of the offense and the juvenile's delin- quency history, level. Offense Classifications The offense for which a juvenile is adjudicated delinquent is classified as vinlent~ serious, or minor as follows: · Violent--Class A through E felony · Serious Class F through I felony or Class Al misdemeanor · Minor---Class 1.2, or 3 rmsdemeanor Delinquency History Level For purposes of disposition, a juvenile has a low. mediurm or high delinquency history level, based on the court's findings as to the juvenile's prior adjudications and on the juvenile's probation status. These are assigned points as follows: · Each prior adjudication of a Class A through E felony ,4 points. Each prior adjudication of a Class F through I felony or a Class Al misdemeanor--2 points~ . Each prior adjudication of a Class 1.2, or 3 misdemeanor-- 1 point. · The juvenile was on probation at the ume of the offense--2 points. ff the juvenile was adjudicated for more than one offense in a single session of district court, only the adjudication for the offense with thc highest point total is used. ifa prior adjudication occurred in another jurisdiction, it is treated as a Class I felony if the other jurisdiction classifies the offense as a felony and as a Class 3 misdemeanor ff the other jurisdiction classifies it as a misdemeanor, unless the juvenile or the State proves by a preponde .ronco of the evidence that it should be assigned a different classification. Thejuvenile's delinquency, histo~ level is · Low, if the juvenile has no points or only one point. · Medium. if the juvenile has two or three points. * High, if the juvenile has four or more points. The prosecutor must make all feasible efforts to obtain and present to the court thejuvenile's full record and. at the juvenile's request, must famish the results to the juvenile within a reasonable time to allow the juvenile to determine whether the record is accu- rate. The State has the burden of proving prior adjudi- cations by a preponderance of the evidence. A prior 18