The Juvenile Court dashboards offer an inside look at how Iowa’s youth interact with the juvenile delinquency system. These dashboards provide access to multiple years of data regarding juvenile complaints, allegations, informal adjustment agreements, formal petitions, and youth waived to adult court. Similar to the adult system, users can view this data geographically by judicial district or county or demographically by the age, sex, or race of the youth involved.
- Complaints
A complaint is an official report alleging that a juvenile has violated the law. A single complaint may include multiple distinct charges/allegations. - Allegations
A charge/allegation is the specific law violation described in a complaint. There may be one or more charges/allegations on a complaint. For example, one complaint could include two allegations of theft and one allegation of criminal mischief. - Petitions Filed
The petition is the formal legal document filed by a County Attorney that starts a court case. This moves the matter from Juvenile Court Services to a formal judicial proceeding. - Informal Adjustment Agreements
An Informal Adjustment is a voluntary agreement between a Juvenile Court Officer (JC), a juvenile, and the juvenile's parent(s). The juvenile agrees to take responsibility and complete certain terms (like community service or restitution) to avoid a formal court proceeding. - Waiver to Adult Court
A judge may waive or transfer a case from juvenile court to adult court. This can occur if the juvenile is over 14 years of age and there are no reasonable prospects to rehabilitate the child in juvenile court. This waiver happens automatically if a child is age 16 or over and commits a forcible felony (e.g. robbery, murder, arson).