Ohio juvenile court after a police stop: who counts as a child, adult transfer, and sealing your record

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A 14-year-old in Cincinnati is stopped by an officer on the walk home from a rec center and later gets a court date. In Ohio, that case goes to juvenile court, a separate court for people who were under 18 when the act happened. The rules there are different from adult court, and the U.S. Supreme Court has said young people in juvenile court still have real constitutional rights.

Who Ohio's juvenile court covers

Ohio law defines a 'child' as a person under 18. What matters is your age when the act happened, not when the case is filed. If you break a law at 17 and the complaint comes after your birthday, you are still treated as a child for that case.

If you are found delinquent before 18, the juvenile court can keep supervising you until age 21. There is one limit worth knowing: if someone commits an act that would be a felony (a serious crime) before 18 but is not caught until after turning 21, that case does not go to juvenile court.

When a case can move to adult court

Ohio calls moving a case to adult court a 'transfer'. There are two kinds.

A mandatory transfer means the judge must send the case to adult court. It applies to the most serious charges, murder and aggravated murder (and attempts), when the young person was 16 or older, or 14 or 15 with a past serious case and a commitment to the Ohio Department of Youth Services. It also applies to some other serious charges at 16 or older, for example when a gun was shown or used.

A discretionary transfer means the judge decides. It is possible when the young person was 14 or older and is charged with an act that would be a felony for an adult.

In In re Gault (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a young person in juvenile court has the right to written notice of the charges, the right to a lawyer, and the right not to be forced to incriminate himself.

Sealing a juvenile record in Ohio

Sealing a record means hiding it from most public view. Some Ohio juvenile records are sealed right away, for example when a case ended without a complaint being filed, or when the court found you were not delinquent.

For other cases, you can apply to the juvenile court. If you are under 18, you can apply 6 months after the court's orders in your case end, or after you are released from the Department of Youth Services. If you are 18 or older, you can apply once that time has passed. The court cannot charge a fee to file. Records for murder, aggravated murder, and rape cannot be sealed this way.

Getting a lawyer and checking local rules

重要

If you have a juvenile court date, call the juvenile court clerk in your county and ask how to get a free lawyer. Each Ohio county's board of commissioners chooses how free defense is provided: a county public defender office, a nonprofit, court-appointed lawyers, or the Office of the Ohio Public Defender. That office's website, opd.ohio.gov, has a County Resources page.

We could not confirm an Ohio statute that requires police to call a parent before questioning a minor. You can say you want a parent and a lawyer before answering questions. We also did not find a statewide youth curfew in Ohio, so check your city's code for a local one.

記住這些

Ohio's juvenile court handles acts committed before age 18, and it can keep supervising a young person until age 21.
A judge can choose to send a felony case to adult court starting at age 14, and must send certain very serious cases, mostly at 16 or older.
Most Ohio juvenile records can be sealed, with no filing fee, starting 6 months after the court's orders end.
In re Gault (1967) gives you the right to a lawyer in juvenile court; your county's juvenile court clerk can tell you how to get one for free.

資料來源

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