Stopped by police or sent to juvenile court in Indiana: your rights, step by step

Indiana goes further than the federal floor on questioning minors. The Public Defender Council's guide states that in Indiana, police cannot ask a child questions about a case until the child has been able to talk with a parent or an attorney and decide whether to answer. Beyond giving your name, saying that you are a minor, and explaining how to reach your parent, you do not have to say anything about the case. Say the words 'I want to talk to my parent' or 'I want a lawyer' and then stop talking.

That state rule sits on top of the national one. In In re Gault (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a young person facing juvenile charges has the same core protections as an adult: notice of the charges, the right to a lawyer, the right to question witnesses, and the right not to be forced to confess. Gerald Gault was 15 and had been locked up for years after a phone-prank accusation, with no lawyer and no real hearing.

The guide's advice for a street stop is short: stay calm, stay still, keep your hands visible, and do not touch the officer. If police want to search your car, you can say no; if they search anyway, do not resist, and tell your lawyer later.

Most Indiana children under 18 who are accused of breaking the law go to juvenile court, not adult court. Cases come in two kinds. A delinquent offense is something that would be a crime for an adult too, like shoplifting or battery. A status offense is something only a minor can be charged with: truancy, a curfew violation, underage drinking, or running away. Curfew hours are set locally in many Indiana cities, so check your own town's ordinance.

If you are held at a detention center, Indiana requires that you see a judge within 48 hours, not counting weekends or holidays. There is no bail in juvenile court and no jury; a judge decides everything. The state must still prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and you have the right to a trial (called a fact-finding hearing) within 20 business days if you are detained or 60 business days if you are released. Many first cases never reach a judge: an informal adjustment or diversion lets a young person complete a plan with probation instead.

A case can move to adult court only through a waiver hearing, which happens when the prosecutor asks the judge to send it there and the judge agrees after hearing about the child and the case. Have a lawyer at that hearing. If you lose in juvenile court, you have 30 days after the disposition hearing (the hearing where the judge decides the consequences) to tell your attorney you want to appeal.

The Public Defender Council puts this in capital letters: juvenile records do not disappear when you turn 18. They stay in the court's system until you ask the court to expunge them (expunge means to seal or erase), and employers, the military, and colleges can see some of that history in the meantime.

Indiana offers two paths. Sealing hides the record from the public but the court keeps it; it is available after a one-year wait for cases that did not end in an adjudication (a finding that you did it), such as a dismissed case, a diversion, or a trial you won, and if your petition meets the legal requirements the judge must grant it. Destruction erases the record entirely and is possible for any juvenile case, even one with probation, but the judge decides. Neither request costs money. You get the form from the clerk of the court where the case was filed, fill in what you know, and turn it in.