Juvenile Law

Steve Scott

Attorney at Law

Serving Landlords, Individuals
and Small Businesses

Vanessa Reynolds

Legal Assistant

Juvenile Law

Scott Law Firm provides representation for parents and/or juveniles involved in Juvenile Court proceedings. This page contains a brief overview of selected aspects of Missouri juvenile law and covers the following topics:

	Who is a juvenile?
	Juvenile Court proceedings
	Parental liability for damages caused by children

Who is a juvenile?

Questions often arise about when, under Missouri law, a person is considered a juvenile (minor) and when he or she is considered an adult. There is no one answer, however, because the determination varies depending on the specific issue. Here are specific examples:

A person must be 21 to serve on a jury and to possess, use or buy alcoholic beverages.

A person must be 18 to get married without permission from a custodial parent or guardian. If the person is under 15, he or she must receive permission from a judge to get married.

At age 18 a person may:

	Vote
	Sue or be sued in court
	Make a will
	Sign a contract
	Sign a lease.
	Consent to his or her own medical treatment (otherwise, persons under 18 need parental permission for any kind of medical treatment, including abortion, except that some hospitals and clinics allow persons of any age to consent to testing and treatment for pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, drug and alcohol abuse or AIDS)

Persons younger than 18 but married or in the military are considered emancipated and may seek medical treatment without parental permission.

At age 17 a person may be tried as an adult for any crime.

If a person at age 16 or younger commits a criminal offense, the case will be referred to Juvenile Court, a division of the Circuit Court. However, if a person is charged with a serious offense such as murder, sale of drugs, robbery, rape, assault, car theft, drug possession or drug dealing, or carrying weapons, or if the person is a repeat offender, the Juvenile Court can certify the person as an adult and transfer him or her to the adult criminal system.

	At age 16, a person may obtain a driver’s license, and at age 15½ may obtain a special license to drive with a parent or guardian. Any person driving is treated as an adult under Missouri’s traffic laws.
	At any age, a victim of a crime has the right to be paid for damages done to him or her and to attend any hearings and trials about the crime.
	Children are entitled to support from their parents until they are at least 18 and become emancipated, which means being on their own. For emancipation to occur, the parents must give explicit or implied permission for the child to live outside the family home, and the child must be self-supporting. Otherwise, children have a right to be supported by their parents until they are 21, and possibly longer in some circumstances, particularly if the children are attending secondary school, vocational-technical school or college. If the parents of a child entitled to parental support are not supporting the child, the situation can be reported to the county Juvenile Officer, who can file a neglect complaint in Juvenile Court. The Juvenile Court can order the parents to provide appropriate support and/or place the child in another setting where the child will receive the necessary care and support.

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Juvenile Court proceedings

If a juvenile under 17 breaks the law and is taken into custody, or if neglect or abuse of a juvenile is alleged, the juvenile comes within the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court, a division of the Circuit Court.

If taken into custody, the juvenile has the right not to say anything until he or she speaks with a lawyer, other than identifying himself or herself by name, address and age. A juvenile can be detained up to 24 hours without a court order and longer by court order, but the parents must be notified as soon as possible.

Once a child is in the Juvenile Court system, whether it is for delinquency, neglect or abuse, both the child and the child’s parents have the right to be represented by an attorney. Juvenile Court proceedings are closed to the general public.

The Juvenile Court has a number of options in dealing with children who are delinquent or who have been abused or neglected. Options include:

	Returning the child to the parents’ custody with probationary conditions
	Assessment of fines
	Ordering parents to provide necessary support
	Putting the child in the custody of the Division of Family Services for placement in a group home or a foster family
	Requiring the juvenile to perform community service
	Ordering the juvenile to make restitution to crime victims
	In cases of serious criminal offenses, detention of the juvenile in a juvenile detention facility up to the age of 21

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Parental liability for damages caused by children

Under Missouri law, a juvenile’s parents can be held liable for up to $4,000 for damages and injuries caused by the juvenile.

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