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Public Defender's Office
Public Defender's Office

Charging juveniles as adults

Historically, the District Attorney had the authority to charge youth in adult court, a process known as “direct files”. After the voters enacted The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 (AKA Prop. 57)​ only a judge, not the District​ Attorney, is authorized to make the decision to "transfer" a youth to adult court after a full hearing. The District Attorney makes a request to transfer the youth to adult court, and the a juvenile justice court judge must hold a “transfer hearing” to decide.

Per Prop 57, the Court must legally consider five (5) factors as well as any other relevant evidence presented.  The five factors a juvenile judge must consider before finding that a juvenile can be transferred to adult court and charged as an adult are:

  1. the degree of sophistication of the crime
  2. whether the youth can be rehabilitated in the juvenile justice system
  3. the youth’s previous criminal history
  4. what happened on prior attempts to rehabilitate the youth; and
  5. the circumstances and gravity of the current offense.

​The court also considers the youth’s age, intellectual ability, mental health, maturity, degree of involvement in the crime, and future prospects. To be eligible for transfer to adult court, the youth must be 16 years or older at the time of the alleged felony offense.