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A 15-year-old in Memphis is stopped by police walking home from a friend's apartment after dark and taken to the Shelby County juvenile court. His grandmother gets a phone call. What happens next depends on three Tennessee rules: who juvenile court covers, when a case can move to adult court, and what happens to the record afterward.
Juvenile court is for people under 18
In Tennessee, a juvenile is a minor under age 18. Juvenile court has original, exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving minors, which means those cases start there and nowhere else.
The U.S. Supreme Court set the ground rules in In re Gault (1967). It held that a young person facing a delinquency case, meaning a case about an act that would be a crime for an adult, has the right to written notice of the charges, a lawyer (appointed free if the family cannot pay), and the right to stay silent.
When a case can move to adult court
Tennessee calls this a transfer. The Shelby County juvenile court explains that a young person can be prosecuted as an adult at age 16, if that was their age at the time of the offense.
Younger teens can be transferred only when charged with the most serious offenses, such as first or second degree murder, rape, aggravated robbery, or aggravated kidnapping. The same court says it is rare for someone under 15 to be prosecuted as an adult.
A transfer is not automatic. It is a decision the juvenile court makes about a specific case, and a lawyer can argue against it.
Records, questioning, and curfews
Tennessee juvenile records are confidential and open only to people directly involved in the case. They can also be expunged, meaning erased from the public record. Under Tennessee Code section 37-1-153(f), you file a motion in juvenile court. For a misdemeanor or unruly case, you can file once at least one year has passed since you finished probation. For a felony case, you must be at least 17 and at least one year past your most recent delinquency ruling. Some serious offenses make a person ineligible. Ask the juvenile court clerk for the motion form.
We could not confirm a Tennessee law that requires police to call a parent before questioning a minor. Gault still applies: you can say, 'I want to stay silent, and I want a lawyer and my parent.' Say it calmly and do not resist.
Curfew rules in Tennessee can come from state law or a city ordinance. Check your city or county's rules, since they differ from place to place.
Getting a lawyer
If your family cannot pay for a lawyer, ask the juvenile court for one. Under In re Gault, the court must tell you and your parents about that right. In Nashville, the Metropolitan Public Defender's Juvenile Division, at the Juvenile Justice Center, represents children under 18, including those the state is trying to transfer to adult court. It can be reached at (615) 862-5740, and it also files motions to expunge old juvenile records.
Outside Davidson County, call the juvenile court clerk in your county and ask how to reach the public defender.
Lembre-se disto
- In Tennessee, juvenile court handles cases involving people under 18.
- A case can be transferred to adult court at 16, or younger for the most serious charges like murder or rape.
- Juvenile records are confidential and can be expunged by motion in juvenile court after a waiting period.
- In re Gault (1967) gives you the right to a lawyer and to stay silent; ask for both, calmly.
Fontes
- Shelby County, Tennessee: Juvenile Court FAQs (abre em uma nova aba)
- Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk: Motion for Expunction of Juvenile Court Records (T.C.A. 37-1-153(f)) (abre em uma nova aba)
- National Reentry Resource Center: Tennessee juvenile court records (abre em uma nova aba)
- Metropolitan Nashville Public Defender: Juvenile Division (abre em uma nova aba)
- Legal Information Institute: In re Gault (1967) (abre em uma nova aba)
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