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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. |
