PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION - For minor violations, law enforcement may simply warn the juvenile and release them to their parents. When further action is needed to protect the public or to prevent future offenses, the case is forwarded to local juvenile probation officials. 

INTAKE - Intake is the process where juvenile probation officials review the facts of the case and determine the appropriate action to take based on the law. Juvenile probation officials have several options when handling a juvenile referral.  A juvenile’s case may be resolved through a supervisory caution, deferred prosecution, or formal juvenile court action. When a juvenile is taken into custody, the juvenile officials decide where the juvenile will stay pending juvenile court proceedings.  If juveniles are not released to the custody of parents or guardians, they are detained in a secure juvenile detention center. All felony or misdemeanor offense involving violence to a person or use or possession of a weapon are immediately sent to the prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor’s office either handles the case or refer it back to juvenile probation.                                   

DETENTION - If a juvenile is placed in a detention facility, the juvenile court must hold a hearing on the matter within two working days. If the juvenile is detained on a Friday or Saturday, the detention hearing must be held on the first working day after the detention. At this initial hearing, and subsequent hearings held every ten working days, the judge must determine if there is good cause to continue detaining the juvenile.                                         

DEFERRED PROSECUTION - Juvenile probation officers may decide not to proceed with juvenile court action. In such cases, the juvenile may be placed on “deferred prosecution” for no more than six months. During that time, the juvenile must meet certain terms, or the case could be referred to the prosecutor’s office for subsequent court action. Paying monetary restitution to the victim or the completion of community service hours may be included in the juvenile’s deferred prosecution program.                                                                   

ADJUDICATION - In a court proceeding called an “adjudication,” hearing, the juvenile accused of the crime, the juvenile’s family and the attorney appear before a judge or jury that will decide if the juvenile committed a delinquent act or conduct indicating a need for supervision. If a court finds that a person has engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision, then the court must set a date and time for a separate disposition hearing.                                       

DISPOSTION - At the disposition hearing the court will decide what punishment is appropriate for the juvenile’s acts. The court may place the juvenile on varying levels of probation, place the juvenile in a private, state or local residential facility, or commit the offender to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.  For certain serious offenses, the juvenile court also has the option of allowing the use of determinant sentencing. The determinate sentencing law allows a juvenile to be confined up to forty years. The first part of the sentence would be served in a Texas Youth Commission facility, followed by an optional court transfer to state prison. 

At the disposition hearing, victims have the right to provide pertinent information about the impact of the offense on the victim and the victim’s family. This may be done through testimony, a written statement or any other manner before the court makes its decision. One way to do this is to meet with the juvenile probation officer conducting a pre-disposition investigation and provide information for inclusion in that report. Another way is to complete a victim impact statement. Subject to the judge’s approval, victims, guardians of victims and close relatives of deceased victims may appear at the disposition hearing itself.

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