U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

June 2009

Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator

Person Offense Cases in 

Juvenile Court, 2005

by Sarah Hockenberry

Person offenses accounted for 25% of all
delinquency cases in 2005
U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated 429,500 delinquency
cases in 2005 in which the most serious charge was an offense
against a person. (Person offenses include assault, robbery, rape,
homicide, and other crimes involving force or threat of force
against persons.) The 2005 person offense caseload was 133%
greater than in 1985. In 2005, person offenses accounted for 25%
of the delinquency caseload, compared with 16% in 1985.
In 2005, juvenile courts handled 13.6 person offense cases for
every 1,000 juveniles age 10 through the upper age of juvenile
court jurisdiction. The 2005 person offense case rate was 94%
greater than the 1985 rate, but 3% less than the peak rate in 1997.
Person offense cases handled by juvenile courts,
1985–2005
1985

2005

Percent change
1985–2005

Cases
Total person offenses*
Violent Crime Index
Criminal homicide
Forcible rape
Robbery
Aggravated assault
Simple assault

184,700
64,000
1,200
3,600
25,500
35,700
101,800

429,500
81,600
1,400
4,400
26,000
49,900
298,600

133%
27
11
22
2
49
193

Case rate**

Total person offenses*
Violent Crime Index
Criminal homicide
Forcible rape
Robbery
Aggravated assault
Simple assault

7.0
2.4
0.0
0.1
1.0
1.3
3.9

13.6
2.6
0.0
0.1
0.8
1.6
9.4

94%

6

–7
1
–15
23
144

Most severe disposition

Homicide was the most serious charge in 1,400 cases handled in
2005. This was less than 0.3% of all person offense cases that
juvenile courts handled in 2005. The majority of person offense
cases involved charges of simple assault (298,600) or aggravated
assault (49,900). Together, these two offenses accounted for 81%
of all person offense cases processed in 2005.

Characteristics of offenders
More than half (57%) of person offense cases in 2005 involved
white youth, 41% involved black youth, 1% involved American
Indian youth, and 1% involved Asian youth. Between 1985 and
2005, person offense case rates for black juveniles were substantially greater than those for the other racial groups; however, the
case rate increased most for white youth (97%), followed by
black youth (81%), Asian youth (80%), and American Indian
youth (44%). Person offense case rates peaked for all racial
groups during the 1990s and declined through the early 2000s.
While the case rates were generally flat between 2000 and 2005

The person offense case rate for black youth increased
annually between 2000 and 2005
Cases per 1,000 juveniles ages 10–upper age
35
30

Black
25
20

Amer. Indian
15
10

White

* Total includes other person offense categories not listed.
** Cases per 1,000 youth age 10 through the upper age of juvenile
court jurisdiction.
Note: Percent change is calculated using unrounded numbers.

Office of Justice Programs

5

Asian
0
1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

www.ojp.usdoj.gov

for white, American Indian, and Asian youth, the case rate for
black youth increased 20%, almost reaching its 1995 peak rate.
Compared with 1985, juveniles involved in person offense cases
in 2005 were slightly younger and more likely to be female. In
2005, 64% of person offenses involved juveniles younger than
16, compared with 61% in 1985. Between 1985 and 2005, the
relative increase in the female caseload outpaced that of males
for person offenses (247% vs. 103%). As a result, the female
share of the person offense caseload has grown since 1985. For
example, females accounted for about 20% of person offenses
for each year between 1985 and 1991. Between 1991 and 2005,
the female proportion of the person offense caseload steadily
increased to 30%.
Compared with males, the 2005 female delinquency caseload had
a greater proportion of simple assault cases (22% vs. 16%) and
an equal proportion of aggravated assault cases (3%). While
assault cases increased both for males and females between 1985
and 2005, the growth in female assault cases exceeded the
growth in male assault cases (71% vs. 56%).

Case processing
Of the 429,500 person offense cases that juvenile courts disposed
in 2005, 58% (251,200) were handled formally (i.e., a petition
was filed requesting an adjudicatory or transfer hearing). Of
these petitioned cases, 1% (3,500) were judicially waived to
criminal court, 61% (153,000) resulted in the youth being adjudicated delinquent in the juvenile justice system, and 38% (94,700)
resulted in the youth being adjudicated not delinquent.
The proportion of petitioned person offense cases judicially
waived to criminal court peaked in 1994, when 2.6% (5,500) of
such cases were waived. Since 1994, the likelihood of waiver has
declined. By 2005, 1.4% (3,500) of the petitioned person offense
caseload was waived. Although the likelihood of waiver has
declined, person offense cases were more likely to be waived
than cases involving other offenses in 2005. Cases involving
males were four times as likely as those involving females to be
judicially waived to criminal court in 2005, and cases involving
juveniles age 16 or older were more likely to be waived than
those involving juveniles younger than 16. In 2005, cases involving American Indian youth charged with a person offense were
more likely to be judicially waived than person offense cases
involving white, black, or Asian youth.
In 25% (37,800) of the 153,000 person offense cases in which
the youth was adjudicated delinquent in 2005, the most severe
disposition that the court imposed was placement out of the
home in a residential facility. Probation was ordered in 63%
(95,800) of the cases and 13% (19,500) resulted in other sanctions, including referral to an outside agency, fines, community
service, and restitution.
Among person offense cases in which youth were adjudicated
delinquent, the percentage of youth ordered to out-of-home
placement decreased between 1985 and 2005, and the percentage
of youth ordered to probation increased.

Fact Sheet

Demographic and case processing characteristics of
person offense cases
Characteristics

1985

1995

Gender
Male
80%
75%
Female
20
25
Age at referral
15 or younger
61%
65%
16 or older
39
35
Race/ethnicity
White
59%
59%
Black
39
38
American Indian
1
1
Asian
1
1
Predisposition detention
Detained
24%
22%
Not detained
76
78
Intake decision
Petitioned
54%
59%
Not petitioned
46
41
Judicial decision of petitioned cases
Adjudicated delinquent
56%
52%
Not adjudicated delinquent
42
46
Waived to criminal court
2
2
Most severe disposition of adjudicated cases
Placed
36%
31%
Probation
56
56
Other
8
12

2005
70%
30
64%
36
57%
41
1
1
25%
75
58%
42
61%
38
1
25%
63
13

Note: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding.

In 2005, those most likely to receive a disposition of out-of-home
placement for person offense cases were youth age 16 or older,
males, and American Indian youth. Those most likely to be
ordered to probation were youth age 15 or younger, females, and
white youth.

For further information
This Fact Sheet is based on the report Juvenile Court Statistics
2005, which is available through OJJDP’s Web site (www.ojp.
usdoj.gov/ojjdp). To learn more about juvenile court cases, visit
OJJDP’s online Statistical Briefing Book (www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/
ojstatbb/index.html) and click on “Juveniles in Court.” OJJDP
also supports Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics, a Webbased application that analyzes the data files used for the Juvenile Court Statistics report. This application is available from the
“Data Analysis Tools” section of the Statistical Briefing Book.
Sarah Hockenberry, M.S., a Research Assistant with the National Center
for Juvenile Justice, prepared this document as a product of the National
Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is supported by OJJDP grants 2007–
JL–FX–0007 and 2007–JL–FX–0022.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component
of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice
Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the Community Capacity
Development Office; the National Institute of Justice; the Office for Victims
of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring,
Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART).

NCJ 224537