Tag Archives: JUVENILE LAW

My son has to appear in juvenile court

Q:        My 17 year old son has a juvenile intake conference for something that they say he did almost ten months ago, What will happen?

A:        It depends on the county, so I will assume you are in Allegheny. An intake conference is a juvenile’s first appearance in Juvenile Court and usually means that a petition for juvenile delinquency in juvenile court has been filed. At the conference, you will meet the Probation Officer if you haven’t yet and your son will be given his charges (the delinquency petition), be assigned to a judge and given his next court date. More importantly, the Probation Officer’s recommendation is explained. If this is a minor offense and your son has no juvenile court history, the recommendation could be something as simple as counseling. If it is a more serious offense, the recommendation may be to have the case proceed to the judge. The best offer would be for a consent decree, which is basically a dismissal once the child completes certain requirements, like counseling or community service. The next step would be standard probation. The next step after that would be house arrest or a juvenile detention center. To get this type of sentence, the child would have to have a significant history and/or this is a serious offense such as sexual assault, burglary, aggravated assault, etc.

 

FIRST TIME BREAKING INTO CARS, WHAT IS THE PENALTY?

Q. Can I get my criminal record sealed if I am a first time offender? My friends and I got drunk and decided we wanted to go for a walk around a neighborhood to see if any cars were unlocked and we took some stuff out of them. I confessed to a few of the items that were missing to a detective.

A. Don’t mess around with this on your own. Hire an attorney. I am not sure if you have pending charges or if you were found or pleaded guilty or if you were in juvenile court or adult court, based on your question. Assuming you have no criminal history, you can probably get accepted into some sort of first time offender’s program so you will not end up with a record, either in adult or juvenile court. If you were convicted in juvenile court, some offenses will be removed from your record when you turn age 18 as an adult and some offenses you have to petition the court to expunge after 5 years of reaching age 18. I cannot answer which applies as I do not know what you are charged with. If you were convicted of a summary offense as an adult (over age 18) you can petition to expunge the record after five years of arrest free behavior. If you were convicted of a misdemeanor or felony as an adult, you cannot expunge the records. You can seek a pardon down the road but that is another matter which requires a lengthy explanation. I would gather your facts and consult with a lawyer.

Can my 17 year old child drop out of school?

Q: When my 17 year old decides to drop out of school what legal action would be taken against us?My 17 yr old is insistent on leaving high school, due to severe health reasons preventing her from dealing with the stress of school, with plans in preparation for GED. We have been through everything discussion wise including the repercussions of only a GED or no diploma, having an IEP/504 in place, etc. But at her age she feels this is what she is entitled to choose to do. Since from what I can see she is old enough in the state of PA to do this I’m wondering if we will still be fined/taken to court for her truancy up to and including when this might happen?

A: In Pennsylvania, “Compulsory school age” refers to the period of a child’s life from the time the child enters school as a beginner which may be no later than at the age of 8 years, until the age of 17 or graduation from a high school, whichever occurs first.” 22 P.S. § 11.13. It is my understanding that a 17 year old child can sign themselves out of school.