Juvenile Transfer Laws That States Use

There are three main types of juvenile transfer laws in place. Juvenile transfer laws are what allow the courts to try a juvenile as an adult. These three transfer laws are Automatic Legislative Exclusion (also known as Statutory Exclusion), Judicial-discretionary and Prosecutorial-discretionary. With three main transfer laws in use some states may use only one transfer law while other states may use a combination that utilizes two transfer laws.

In addition to the juvenile transfer laws some states also have what is known as the "once and adult always an adult" ruling. Depending on the state, this can go two ways. One is that if a juvenile is ever convicted of a crime as an adult then all criminal proceeding after that will be tried in adult court. Some states though do not require a conviction for the "once and adult always an adult". For those states just getting transferred to adult court to be tried as an adult, means that all future criminal proceedings will take place in adult court even if there was never a conviction the first time in adult court.

Automatic Legislative Exclusion:

Under this method all decisions are taken out of the courts and the prosecutor's hands when it comes to a juvenile being transferred to adult court. State Legislature determines criminal prosecution for this method.

The crimes that are usually covered are felonies and drug crimes with an age limit set.

Any juvenile that age or over is automatically transferred from juvenile courts to adult courts. Some states however use automatic transfer of all persons meeting the age limit for all crimes not just felonies and drug crimes.

As said above some states use a combination of transfer laws. New Mexico and New York on the other hand use the automatic transfer law only with no other transfers laws used.

Judicial-discretionary:

It is up to the courts to determine if a juvenile is to be tried as a juvenile or transferred to adult court under this transfer law. All cases against a juvenile must originate in the juvenile courts first prior to transfer. The juvenile judge must then give a formal approval for the juvenile to be transferred out of the juvenile courts and into adult court.

There are factors that a juvenile judge will consider prior to transferring a juvenile to adult court. These factors usually consist of the seriousness of the crime, the juvenile's maturity level and the juvenile's amenability to treatment.

Missouri uses this transfer law only when it comes to the juvenile court system.

Prosecutorial-discretionary:

Prosecutorial-discretionary transfer law is also known as direct file. Under this transfer law, the decision rests with the prosecutor when deciding to try a juvenile as an adult or not. The judge does not have to sign a formal release for this transfer to take place. Nor does the judge have any say at all.

Each prosecutor may use his or her own factors when deciding to try a juvenile as an adult or not. Mostly though there are age limits in place though for each state that must be adhered too. However, once the age limit is met then all decision lies with each individual prosecutor.

Nebraska is the only state that uses prosecutorial-discretionary transfer only when it comes to the transfer of the state's juveniles.