At Dearie, Fischer, and Martinson, we have handled thousands of juvenile court cases over the last twenty years. Most people know what it means to have a criminal conviction as an adult, but things are a little bit different when it comes to juvenile adjudication in Ohio. If your child is facing a juvenile delinquency case, or if you are just seeking information on the Ohio juvenile court system, this article may be helpful to you as we will discuss the difference between a criminal conviction (adult) and an adjudication of delinquency (juvenile). For a broader exploration of the many differences between adult and juvenile court, consider reading our recent article on juvenile law, Differences between Juvenile Court and Adult Court.
Juvenile Court in Ohio
In Ohio, a juvenile is someone under the age of 18 years old. With some narrow exceptions, juveniles are do not go to an adult criminal court when facing criminal accusations. We discuss the exceptions in another article but here we discuss how juvenile court normally works.
As we mention in the previous article, juvenile delinquency cases are civil in nature, instead of criminal. For adults, civil cases normally take care of law suits, divorces, protection orders, wills and things of that nature. In order to prosecute adult criminal offenses, the case must go before a criminal court.
Juvenile court is slightly different. When juveniles are facing charges of illegal activity, the case is still a civil case. They are a special kind of civil cases with their own system for deciding cases. The system used to handle alleged juvenile offenders mirrors the criminal justice system, and many people think the consequences of a criminal conviction are the same as a juvenile delinquency adjudication. However, there are a few differences.
Juvenile Delinquency Adjudication
While adult criminal court uses the terms like “found guilty” or “found not guilty” the juvenile court system uses the term adjudication. The court adjudicates Juveniles either delinquent or not delinquent. An adjudication of delinquency as a juvenile mirrors a finding of guilty as an adult, and the two concepts have similarities and differences.
As we said before, a juvenile adjudication is the conclusion of a civil case and not a criminal one. Technically, a juvenile with a record of delinquency does not have a criminal record. Much like a criminal record, having delinquencies on your record will often make it more difficult to get a favorable adjudication in future cases. The record of delinquency can also hurt prospects of getting jobs, getting into colleges, or enrolling in certain school systems. After all, juveniles get delinquent adjudications for committing the same types of acts that result in criminal convictions for adults.
Expungement of Juvenile Records
When it comes to expungement in Ohio, there are two major differences between criminal convictions and Juvenile Adjudications.
- Automatic Expungement – The court automatically expunges most delinquency records when the offender turns 18. Adults normally have to qualify as an eligible offender and go through the application process for the hope of sealing or expunging their record.
- True expungement – Although the terms “expungement” and “sealing of record” are often used interchangeably, there are normally different requirements to expunge an adult record and to seal it. “Expunged” technically means the record is destroyed, which happens to juvenile records much more often than adult records.
Conclusion
While there are differences between delinquency adjudications and criminal convictions, it is best to avoid both of them. Even if you are facing a conviction or delinquency adjudication, you can sometimes get deals that make them less damaging to the record than they could have been. Another similarity between the juvenile and adult court systems is that many defense attorneys regularly practice in both. If you are facing legal trouble either as a juvenile or adult, feel free to contact the expert defense attorneys at Dearie, Fischer & Martinson.
