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JUVENILE

Tim Curry
Criminal District Attorney


     
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The Juvenile Section prosecutes crimes committed by juveniles, as well as violations of laws regulating juvenile conduct. The district court dedicated to hearing juvenile cases in Tarrant County is located in the Scott Moore Juvenile Justice Center on Kimbo Road, which is northeast of downtown Fort Worth. The prosecution team assigned to the juvenile court consists of four felony attorneys and three misdemeanor attorneys. Additionally, one grant-funded attorney is assigned to juvenile truancy.

Our office has several options for handling juvenile offenders. In the most severe cases where the juvenile is at least fourteen years old, the State can petition the court to certify him to stand trial as an adult. In such cases, the defendant faces the same punishment as an adult offender, excluding the death penalty.

For offenders under fifteen years old, the State may seek a "determinate sentence" for certain types of serious crimes. Under this sentencing scheme, the juvenile faces up to forty years confinement. He remains confined in a juvenile detention facility until age eighteen, then serves the remainder of his sentence in the adult prison system.

In 2000, the juvenile district court disposed of 1,807 cases ranging from misdemeanor offenses to murder. That same year, 165 juveniles were sent to the Texas Youth Commission, 8 were certified to stand trial as adults, and 13 received determinate sentences.