Getting accurate information on juvenile crimes remains a challenging endeavor. This happens for many reasons, including confidentiality requirements for organizations and reporting systems that have problems with consistency across local, state and federal...
Juvenile Offenses
Do juvenile records disappear at age 18?
There are some misunderstandings about juvenile records. Many people think they are like an adult criminal record, but they are much more. The State of Louisana Office of Juvenile Justice explains a juvenile record contains social and criminal information about a...
What is a modification of disposition?
The criminal justice system in Louisiana treats juveniles differently than adults, so certain procedures do not apply to young offenders as they would for adult criminals. This is because the state offers greater flexibility to juveniles in the hopes that they will...
Are juvenile records kept private?
The juvenile justice system is much different from the adult system. The focus of the juvenile system is rehabilitation and helping kids to fix whatever has gone wrong in their lives that led them down a bad path. The law assumes a child can change and move on past...
Juvenile mental health, crime and treatment
Many teenagers and adolescents in Louisiana and throughout the United States suffer from depression, anxiety, behavior disorders and a number of other mental health conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 4.5 million children...
Is your juvenile record eligible for expungement in Louisiana?
Many Louisiana residents make mistakes when they are young. However, in some cases, a mistake you make as a juvenile may continue to haunt you for years or even your entire life. Depending on circumstances, having a juvenile record may restrict you from holding...
Adjudication vs. conviction
The juvenile criminal system is quite different from the adult criminal system. While the general process is the same, the differences are a reflection of the focus of each system. In the adult system, the focus is punishment, but in the juvenile system, the focus...
A juvenile offense may result in prosecution as an adult
Louisiana's justice system generally prosecutes an individual 17 years of age and younger as a juvenile when he or she faces a charge involving a non-violent offense. If the allegations consist of committing a violent offense, such as homicide, a prosecutor may...
How can underage drinking change your child’s life?
Louisiana law treats underage drinking offenses in a serious way. If convicted, your child could deal with the consequences much longer than either of you anticipate. How could an underage drinking conviction impact your child's life? In what way do the effects of...