Z Montana juvenile justice

Jurisdictional boundaries

States vary in how each sets the basic playing field for juvenile justice with lower and upper age boundaries. State legislatures further create a range of complex exceptions for transfer to criminal court based on case-by-case, age and offense specifics.

• Delinquency age boundaries 2018

  • Upper age

    17 years old

  • Lower age

    None specified

  • Extended age

    24 years old

• Transfer provisions 2016

  Transfer pathways

  • Discretionary waiver
  • Presumptive waiver
  • Mandatory waiver
  • Statutory exclusion
  • Once/always adult
  • Prosecutor discretion

  Mitigating provisions

  • Reverse waiver (remand)
  • Juvenile blended sentencing
  • Criminal blended sentencing

• Transfer trends

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• State details National comparison

Juvenile defense ^[3]

Much is at stake in a juvenile court action for delinquency, and successful outcomes are influenced by a family's ability to retain effective counsel early-on and retain them until a permanent resolution to all aspects of the legal matter is resolved.

• Defense structure 2017

  • Organization

    Statewide

  • Oversight

    Full oversight

• Waiver of counsel 2014

  Factors for consideration in juvenile justice statutes:

  • Age

  • Crime

  • Hearing

  • Placement

• Indigency requirements 2013

  Indigency determination: Legislatively

• State details National comparison

Racial/ethnic fairness ^[1][2][4][5]

Youth of color are overrepresented in many aspects of the juvenile justice system, from arrest to court referral and confinement. Thus a core requirement of federal juvenile justice policy requires each state to identify where disparities may exist.

• Indicator data 2017

  Publishes annual indicators and assessment research.

• DMC coordinators 2016

  Part-time or other state-level staff

• Tribal delinquency jurisdiction 2016

  Shared with: State (other)

• Monitoring data

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  • N/A: Insufficient data to compute arrest rates
  • * Rates used to compute ratio based on fewer than 10 observations
  • † White detained rate is 0
• State details National comparison

Juvenile court

Each state has established a court with juvenile jurisdiction to address the law violating conduct of youth. Explore the structural and procedural differences.

• Judicial selection 2022

  • Elected

  • Appointed

  • Combination

• Judicial specialization 2022

  • All mixed case types

  • Mostly mixed

  • Mostly specialized

• Caseload assignment 2022

  • Mixed assignment methods

  • Individual discretion

  • Statute/State court rules

• Judicial experience, training, and tools 2022

  • Qualification Requirements

  • Required Annual Training

  • Required Risk/Need Assessments and Pre-Dispositional Reports

  • Juvenile Justice Bench Books

• Courtroom shackling 2015

  No statewide requirement

• Competency 2015

  • No juvenile standard

  • Juvenile standard is the adult standard

  • Juvenile justice standard exists

  • JJ standard includes developmental immaturity

• State details National comparison

Juvenile justice services ^[6]

Every state has a set of laws establishing a system of juvenile courts and a corresponding intervention system commonly referred to as juvenile justice services. The different frameworks effectively create 51 distinctly different juvenile justice systems.

• Purpose clauses 2016

  • No clause

  • Parens patriae

  • Due process era

  • Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ)

  • Developmental Approach

• Organization structure 2022

  • Overall

    Mostly state operated

  • Detention

    Locally operated

  • Probation

    State operated

  • Reentry

    State operated

• Corrections agency 2015

  • Independent juvenile corrections agency

  • Family/child welfare agency or division

  • Broad human services agency

  • Adult corrections agency or division

• Intake and diversion 2016

  Initial intake and diversion decision is at the discretion of the juvenile court intake officer and no statutory time limit/s for court diversions exist.

• Solitary confinement 2016

  • Prohibits punitive confinement

  • Limits punitive confinement

  • No limits on punitive confinement

  • Did not respond

• Release decision 2016

  • Agency

  • Court

  • Parole board

  • Agency and court

• Risk assessment 2020

  • Statewide uniform assessment

  • Layered/regional assessment

  • Locally administered assessment

• Sex offense registry 2015

  Registers

• Risk instruments 2017

  • Statute or agency policy

  • Agency recommended

  Back on Track

• Mental health screening 2014

  Required in the following services:

  • Secure detention

  • Probation

  • Corrections

• EBP support center 2014

  Does not have a support center or collaboratives dedicated to coordinating activities around implementing, evaluating, and sustaining EBPs.

• Recidivism indicators 2016

  • Study populations: Court action
  • Re-offense events: Court action
  • Follow-up periods: 12 months
• State details National comparison

Status offense issues ^[7]

A wide range of non-criminal behaviors by youth are grouped as status offenses. Actions such as truancy, running away or acting stubborn can thrust an adolescent into formal juvenile court actions for services and safety but also where their liberty may be at-risk.

• Labeling 2015

  Spectrum of labels

  Victim Child welfare perspective

  Offender Public safety perspective

  • In need of aid, assistance, or care

  • In need of services

  • In need of supervision

  • Unruly

  • Status offender

• Age boundaries 2016

  • Status offense jurisdiction: Up through 17 years old. (lower age not specified)
  • Delinquency jurisdiction: Up through 17 years old. (lower age not specified)

• Reported data

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• State details National comparison

Systems integration ^[8]

Youth involved in more than one system require special attention and coordination.  State and local policy-makers are increasingly sharing data concerning dual status youth and establishing a wide range of exciting coordination models.

• Agency integration 2016

  Separate state-level centralized agencies

• State coordination 2014

  • Data sharing

  • Committees or advisory groups

  • Formal interagency MOUs

  • Informal interagency agreements

  • Statute and/or court rules

• Reported data

  
  

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• State details National comparison

Data sources

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Easy Access to FBI Arrest Statistics
   For offense category definitions, please see the glossary.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Easy Access to Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement
   For offense category definitions, please see the glossary.
3. ^ Report to the Governor, Legislature, and Supreme Court
   Montana Public Defender Commission
4. ^ Assessing the Mechanisms that Contribute to Disproportionate Minority Contact in Montana's Juvenile Justice Systems
   Montana Board of Crime Control
5. ^ Current RRI (2015)
   Montana Crime Control Board
6. ^ Youth Court At-A-Glance January 2014
   Montana Supreme Court Office of the Court Administrator
7. ^ Youth Court At-A-Glance
   Montana Judicial Branch
8. ^ Annual Progress and Services Report
   Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Child and Family Services Division

State resources

Juvenile justice leadership

• Montana Board of Crime Control is the state advisory group (SAG).
• Is the federally required, 3-year state juvenile justice federal formula grant plan available on the SAG website? No.
• Montana Judicial Branch, District courts (also Youth Courts) administer juvenile probation in field offices arranged by district (see Directory for contact information for judges and probation officers).
• Montana Supreme Court Administrator's Office is the Administrative Office of the Court
• Montana Department of Corrections, Youth Services Division, Youth Community Corrections administers youth parole and aftercare

Other stakeholders

• Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Child and Family Services Division (CFSD)
• Montana Statistical Analysis Center (SAC), Board of Crime Control

Policy (legal) research

• Montana Statutes contain the Youth Court Act in Title 41 Minors, Chapter 5    
• Montana Indian Law Portal
• Montana Regulation Search
• Montana Court Rules
• State Bar of Montana , Montana Law Library

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