FAQ Category: Juvenile Cases

A: No. The very first court notice in Juvenile Court is a mandatory assignment of counsel hearing notice. This notice is a directive to the child and his or her family that they must hire an attorney to appear at the hearing or apply for a public defender to handle...

A: Absolutely. The law in New Jersey mandates that every juvenile defendant be represented by an attorney. Families who are indigent (i.e. that cannot afford an attorney) can have a public defender appointed to represent their child. Where indigency cannot be established, a parent or guardian must r

A: As a general rule, parents are not responsible for the criminal acts of their child. Parents are also generally excluded from personal liability for damages and restitution associated with criminal acts by their child.

A: Criminal offenses are often diverted in two ways. First, a criminal charge against a child can be diverted to an outside body known as Juvenile Conference Committee, a judicially appointed body which hears juvenile cases informally. “Diversion” is also used to describe a type of adju

A: The juvenile system is built on the goal of serving the interests of the child. It obviously would not be in the best interests of a child to detain them in a jail or prison where adults are housed. Accordingly, individual juvenile detention facilities have been set up in each...