When the police arrest a child it is not unlike when they arrest an adult. They must inform your child of his or her constitutional rights prior to entering into any interrogation of the child. However, when a child is arrested, all of the records are considered confidential and are not open for public review or inspection. Your child will not be taken directly to the county jail. Your child will be taken instead to the juvenile detention center.  While the juvenile detention center is very similar to a jail it is designed for minors and there is no contact with adult offenders.

The DJJ has the authority to release your child to you or another responsible adult depending upon the severity of the crime and your child’s arrest history. Both the police and DJJ are required by law to make a good faith effort to contact a child’s parent or legal guardian as soon as practical. If DJJ releases the child to you, you will be given a date to return to court. It is mandatory that you return to court on the date, time and place specified or the judge may issue a pick-up order to place your child back in custody until the child can appear before the judge.

It is important that you, as a parent, take the juvenile court system seriously because there are many ways in which the system can come back to haunt your son or daughter after they turn the age of majority. Since juvenile court by its very nature is dealing with young people who have their whole lives ahead of them it is foolish not to treat the matter with the same seriousness with which the law treats felony offenders. You will find it helpful to consult with an attorney familiar with juvenile court procedures prior to appearing before the judge.