If your child has been charged with a delinquent act, you and your child need representation.
Juvenile Delinquency in Indiana
With some exceptions, Indiana children cannot commit “crimes.” Instead, if a child is alleged to have broken the criminal laws, the prosecutor files a petition alleging delinquency.
If your child has been charged with a delinquent act, you and your child need representation. As a result of a delinquency case, a court can order children detained in a juvenile detention facility or at a secure facility operated by the Indiana Department of Correction. The court can also commit a child to an impatient/residential treatment facility. And in certain cases, the law allows juvenile courts to “waive” their jurisdiction, returning the matter to its criminal or “adult” court, where potential penalties can be even more severe.
Why might a parent need an attorney?
Indiana law automatically makes a child’s parents parties to proceedings in the juvenile court, and juvenile courts can order parents to take, or refrain from taking, certain actions. Importantly, unlike children, parents are not automatically entitled to court-appointed lawyers in delinquency cases. And of course, parents inherently have valuable information and an informed perspective on how the court should treat their child. An attorney can ensure that a parent’s voice is heard effectively in a juvenile delinquency proceeding.
The Jones Law Office’s Experience in Juvenile Delinquency Cases
Attorney Graham C. Polando handles the firm’s juvenile delinquency cases. As a magistrate in the St. Joseph Probate Court, he handled hundreds of juvenile delinquency cases, while also presiding over cases in the other “half” of the juvenile court system, where a child is alleged to be in need of services (CHINS). Graham is the former Chair of the Indiana Supreme Court’s Juvenile Advisory Committee, and was on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. He is also a former prosecutor for juvenile delinquency cases, and taught college courses on Youth and the Juvenile Justice System.
Contact the Attorneys at Jones Law Office
Call Jones Law Office at (574) 239-7017 or fill out the form to schedule a free, confidential consultation with Attorney Graham Polando today.
