Frequently Asked Questions

A good place to start is by scheduling a meeting with your school administration/counselor. Between the two parties, try to identify and address all reasonable barriers to your child’s success. Communicate regularly, and work closely as a team with your child’s school. If possible, build in the support of friends, family members and your local police department.

Only the court or the court’s designee can authorize placement of a youth into a juvenile detention facility. There are strict legal criteria outlining when a juvenile is eligible for detention. A parent cannot place a child in detention.

Under most circumstances a juvenile’s record can be destroyed at some point. The process of getting a juvenile record and associated police reports destroyed is called an expungement. Please see Expungement for further information.

If your child has been involved in a law violation, it is up to a law enforcement agency to investigate. If they find probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, they will forward their police report to the juvenile division. The case will be assigned to a juvenile probation officer who will be responsible to manage the case. Certain offenses may require District Attorney review before juvenile division staff decides how to proceed with the case. In other cases, staff will meet with the youth and his/her family, conduct a risk assessment and develop a plan with the youth and family. This plan may call for an informal dealing with the case or a formal processing of the case (court hearings and judicial orders). Victims of juvenile crimes will also be involved in the juvenile department case planning.

In juvenile delinquency cases, your child may be eligible for a court appointed attorney. As a parent of a child involved in a delinquent act, you are not eligible for a court appointed attorney. If the parent or the youth cannot afford to pay for the attorney, the court can order an attorney be appointed. This will be based upon financial criteria.

Your response to a situation like this should depend upon the level of urgency. If there is doubt in your mind and clearly no immediate danger, you can call the Oregon Child Abuse Hotline at 1-855-503-7233 and ask how to respond. If, on the other hand, the child is clearly in danger, do not hesitate to call 911 and report the incident and details to the police.

Probation is imposed by a judge up to a maximum probation period of five years and shall not exceed the juvenile’s 23rd birthday. Six months to two years is a common period of probation. The length of time depends on the risk of the youth, sanctions, and the youth’s compliance with the conditions of probation.

The majority of juvenile records are confidential per Oregon law. The following information, which is not considered privileged, may be released to anyone:

• Name and date of birth of youth;
• Basis for the juvenile court’s (or departments’) jurisdiction over youth;
• Act alleged in the petition;
• Juvenile court order (or diversion agreement) providing for the legal disposition of the youth;
• Names and addresses of the youth or youth’s parents or guardians;
• The date, time and location of Court Hearings.