Hanover County Juvenile Justice System:
The juvenile justice system handles the crimes related to juveniles. The juvenile justice system constitutes its own set of guidelines and litigations to deal with the juveniles.
Prosecution of Juvenile in Hanover, VA
The court procedure for juveniles is different than adults. If a juvenile that is anyone younger than 18 – has been convicted of any crime in Hanover County, VA J&DR court will handle the litigation and the juvenile will intake that court.
Therefore it’s very important to understand the terminologies used for crimes related to a juvenile. Juvenile in Hanover County, VA does not go to trial, in fact, they got to adjudication. In adjudication the juvenile plus testimonies, witnesses and proofs are presented for the charged crime. A juvenile who has committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult. An act committed by a juvenile which in other case would be a crime if committed by an adult is called Delinquent.
Conviction of Felony Charges on a Juvenile in Hanover County, VA
The Hanover County follows the laws for Juvenile in compliance with the Commonwealth of Virginia laws for Juvenile felonies and other charges stated in the Code of Virginia. According to the Code of Virginia § 16.1-305, “Confidentiality of Court Records”, subsection B1,
“If a juvenile 14 years of age or older at the time of the offense is adjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which would be a felony if committed by an adult, all court records [with the exception of social history, mental health records, and such] shall be open to the public.”
Additionally the Code of Virginia § 16.1-269.1. ‘Trial in circuit court; preliminary hearing; direct indictment; remand’ similarly states the condition when the juvenile to be prosecuted as adults for specific crimes plus the juvenile at the time of a charged violation, is of 14 years of age or older. These kind of cases are problematical because they are related to the life and future of the child.
What more threatening are not the charges and conviction at that alleged time but a permanent felony criminal record. As according to the Code of Virginia § 16.1-306, regarding the sealing of the misdemeanor records, unambiguously says that
“If the juvenile [regardless of age] was found guilty of a delinquent act which would be a felony if committed by an adult, the records shall be retained.”
The law of straightforwardly means that a child regardless of the age will have a public record of a misdemeanor. If the crime is felony and juvenile is 14 years or older then he or she would have a record.
These laws are difficult to comprehend for the layman. Moreover, a child mistake of these nature can ruin his and your life, therefore, it is very important for you to have an aggressive legal representative in court for your young one.