w West Virginia juvenile justice

Jurisdictional boundaries ^[3]

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

    20 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

  Loading…
• State details National comparison

Juvenile defense ^[4]

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

    Localized

  • Oversight

    Partial oversight

• Waiver of counsel 2014

  Factors for consideration in juvenile justice statutes:

  • Age

  • Crime

  • Hearing

  • Placement

• Indigency requirements 2013

  Indigency determination: Judicially

• State details National comparison

Racial/ethnic fairness ^[1][2]

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

  Reports to federal juvenile justice agency only.

• DMC coordinators 2016

  Full-time state-level DMC coordinator

• Tribal delinquency jurisdiction 2016

  Not applicable

• Monitoring data

  Loading…

  • 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

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

  • Detention

    State operated

  • Overall

    Mostly state operated

  • Probation

    Locally 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 court diversion decision is at the discretion of the prosecutor or the juvenile court intake officer, divided by offense and post-petition court diversion time limit/s 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

  Does not register

• Risk instruments 2017

  • Statute or agency policy

  • Agency recommended

  Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI)

• Mental health screening 2014

  Required in the following services:

  • Secure detention

  • Probation

  • Corrections

• EBP support center 2014

  Has a support center or collaboratives dedicated to coordinating activities around implementing, evaluating, and sustaining EBPs.

• Recidivism indicators 2016

  Does not publish recidivism consistently over time.
• State details National comparison

Status offense issues ^[5]

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

  Loading…
• State details National comparison

Systems integration

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

  
  

  Loading…
• 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. ^ Juvenile Probation in WV 2008-2009
   Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, Administrative Office
4. ^ Annual Report
   West Virginia Public Defender Services
5. ^ Annual Report
   West Virginia Judiciary

State resources

Juvenile justice leadership

• West Virginia Division of Criminal Justice Services is the state advisory group (SAG).
• Is the federally required, 3-year state juvenile justice federal formula grant plan available on the SAG website? Yes, but not the current plan.
• West Virginia Judiciary, Family Courts (See Map for directory by county)
• West Virginia Administrative Office of the Courts is the administrative office of the court and houses the Division of Probation Services, which governs juvenile probation services that are provided by local court staff.
• West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, Division of Juvenile Services provides secure detention, parole services, and operates juvenile corrections facilities (see employee directory).

Other stakeholders

• West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Office of Children and Adult Services, Bureau for Children and Families (BCF)
• West Virginia Statistical Analysis Center (SAC), DMAPS, Division of Justice and Community Services
• WV Intergovernmental Task Force on Juvenile Justice (See Final Report 12-14)

Policy (legal) research

• West Virginia Statutes contain juvenile-related sections in Chapter 49 (Child Welfare Act)
• West Virginia Regulation Search, Title 101 (Juvenile Services)
• West Virginia Rules of Juvenile [Court] Procedure
• West Virginia State Bar
• DHHR-BCF Youth Services Policy

Read more »