juvenile justice system

I. Structure and Function of the Juvenile Justice System

A. Law Enforcement

In Colorado there are three primary types of law enforcement agencies: sheriff's departments, municipal police departments, and the Colorado State Patrol. Their structure and function are as follows:

Sheriff's Departments: Per state statute each of the 63 counties in Colorado has a sheriff who is elected every four years. The sheriff is responsible for maintaining a county jail, providing civil and criminal paper service, responding to requests for service in their county outside of the municipalities, and investigating criminal cases. Funding for sheriff's departments is provided by the county.

Municipal Police Departments: A municipality may elect to have a police department to answer service calls within the boundaries of the municipality. Police chiefs are hired by city managers or city councils; they are not elected officials. Generally they are not responsible for housing prisoners although many do so for short periods of time pending release or transfer to the county Jail. There are 177 municipal police departments in Colorado.

Colorado State Patrol: The Colorado State Patrol is a division of the Department of Public Safety. Its major responsibility is to patrol state highways for traffic violations, accident assistance and investigations. The administrative office is located in Denver; there are regional command sub-stations located throughout the state. The State Patrol routinely turns juvenile cases over to local police or sheriff's departments.
Generally, the responsibilities of law enforcement for juveniles in Colorado include:
- Taking juveniles into temporary custody, without an order of the court, when there are reasonable grounds to believe that a delinquent act has been committed.
- Responding to an issuance of a warrant from the court to take a juvenile into custody.
- Responding to child protection issues and concerns, as requested, including search warrants for the protection of children and emergency protection orders.
- Issuing a summons to appear in court in response to an alleged violation of a municipal ordinance or traffic law.

B. Intake/Screeners

The chief judge in each of 22 judicial districts in Colorado appoints an individual or agency to perform intake/screening functions for juveniles taken into temporary custody. There is significant variation in each district regarding the structure of the intake/screening function. The function of the intake/screener is to locate the least restrictive environment for juveniles that have been taken into temporary custody while still providing for the safety of the juvenile and the community. In 1992, Colorado statute was amended to require the development of a common assessment instrument and criteria for detention and release decisions. However, variations from the criteria may be approved by the court, and indications are that the common criteria are not always used.
- Responsibilities of the intake/screener include, but may not be limited to:
- Interviewing the juvenile and involved persons and agencies.
- Arranging for the least restrictive holding environment for the juvenile, while still providing for the safety of the juvenile and the community.
- Reporting the finding of the screening process to the court at the detention hearing.

C. Department of Human Services

State law created the Colorado Department of Human Services on July 1, 1994 to manage, administer, oversee, and deliver a variety of human services to residents of Colorado. The Department combines the former departments of Social Services, Institutions along with the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division formerly of the Department of Public Health and Environment. The state's Medicaid program, formerly located in the Department of Social Services, is now in another newly created Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Today, the Department of Human Services is comprised of more than 7,100 county or state employees dedicated to providing human services to Colorado residents. It provides services through 63 county or district departments of social services, two state Mental Health Institutes, 10 Division of Youth Services facilities, 28 vocational rehabilitation offices, three regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities, and five state and veterans' nursing homes. In addition, the Department contracts with 17 community mental health centers, 20 community centered boards, and numerous other community-based public and private providers.
Responsibilities with regard to delinquents and status offenders include, but are not limited to:
- Out-of-home placement.
- Emergency protection as ordered by the court.
- The provision of short-term shelter care for youth who are not in need of secure detention.
Status offenders in Colorado are considered, by statute, to be dependent or neglected children. Despite the frequent use of the term "status offender" in this document, there are no provisions specifically for status offenders in the Colorado Children's Code.

D. District Attorney

A district attorney is elected in each of 22 judicial districts in Colorado. Judicial districts may include between one and seven counties, depending on the area of the state. The state pays a base salary to the district attorney; all other operating expenses are provided by the county or counties making up the judicial district. The function of the district attorney's office with regard to alleged delinquent juveniles is to determine whether the interests of the child or the community require that further action be taken.
Responsibilities with regard to juvenile offenders include, but are not limited to:
- Reviewing law enforcement case referrals, and making a decision to file a delinquency petition, refer the case to a diversion program, request an informal adjustment, and/or direct file in criminal court.
- Prosecuting delinquency cases.

E. Juvenile Diversion

In Colorado, diversion may occur at both the pre-filing and post-adjudication level. Many (but not all) district attorneys operate juvenile diversion programs, which typically serve pre-filing juveniles. Many other private non-profit agencies operate juvenile diversion programs; typically these agencies serve mostly post-adjudicated juveniles, often referred by the probation department. The state provides some funding for diversion programs; additional costs are provided by counties and/or private fund raising and grants. Diversion is legally defined as a decision made by a person with authority or a delegate of that person which results in specific official action of the legal system not being taken in regard to a specific juvenile or child and in lieu thereof providing individually designed services by a specific program. The goal of "diversion" is to prevent further involvement of the juvenile or child in the formal legal system. "Diversion" of a juvenile or child may take place either at the pre-filing level as a alternative to the filing of a petition or at the post-adjudication level as a adjunct to probation services following an ad judicatory hearing or a disposition as a part of sentencing. "Services" include, but are not limited to, diagnostic needs assessment, restitution programs, community service, job training and placement, specialized tutoring, constructive recreational activities, general counseling and counseling during a crisis situation, and follow-up activities. Juveniles eligible for services in state-funded programs are those who have been taken into temporary custody more than once for crimes, which constitute a misdemeanor or once for a crime, which constitutes a felony.

F. The Judiciary

Each of the 22 judicial districts in Colorado has district and county courts. Funding for their operation is provided by the state; facilities are provided by the county or counties in the judicial district. Except for Denver, which has a separate juvenile court, juvenile courts are a division of the district court. Unless otherwise provided by law, the juvenile court has jurisdiction, including but not limited to, proceedings concerning:
- Any child committing a delinquent act.
- Any child who is neglected or dependent (includes status offenders).
- Legal custody of a child.
- Treatment or commitment of a mentally ill or developmentally disabled child under the court's jurisdiction under other provisions.
- The Interstate Compact on juveniles.
- Petitions filed pursuant to the "School Attendance Law of 1963".
- Petitions for review of need for placement.
When a decision is made to detain a juvenile who is taken into temporary custody, state law requires that a detention hearing be held within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. If a delinquency petition is filed by the district attorney, the case may proceed through an advisement hearing, (in some cases) a preliminary hearing, an ad judicatory trial, and a sentencing hearing. Plea-bargaining may occur during this process, and deferral of adjudication is an option of the court. The Colorado Children's Code contains provisions for mandatory sentence offenders, repeat offenders, violent offenders, and aggravated juvenile offenders. There are also municipal courts in each city in Colorado. These courts hold proceedings regarding the violation of municipal ordinances and traffic laws. Within the last several years, there has been a trend in Colorado for municipalities to pass ordinances, which cover certain less serious delinquent acts. When a juvenile is apprehended for the violation of a municipal ordinance, the consequence is a summons to municipal court, where the juvenile may be fined or put on municipal diversion or probation, if they exist.

G. Probation

In Colorado, probation (except municipal probation) is part of the Judicial Department. There are Probation Officers in each of 22 judicial districts that conduct pre-sentence investigations, and supervise probationers. The court establishes the terms of the probation. The probation department, by statute, is to use all suitable methods, including counseling, to aid each juvenile under their supervision, and to perform other duties in connection with the care and custody of juveniles as the court may direct. Operationally, the probation department collects restitution, may refer the juvenile to a diversion program, and may operate or refer a juvenile to a community service or work program. A probation officer has the powers of a peace officer and may have both adult and juvenile caseload responsibilities.

H. Division of Youth Corrections

The Division of youth Corrections is located in the Department of Human Services. The Division is involved in the juvenile justice system at the front end, through the provision of secure detention services to juveniles taken into temporary custody, and at the back end, through the operation of training schools for committed youth. In addition to holding pre-adjudicated juveniles, DYC detention centers also hold youths sentenced to detention, return commitments, some status offenders, committed youth awaiting community or secure placement, and some dependency and neglect cases pending alternative placement. With regard to committed youth, the Division is mandated to operate facilities necessary for the care, education, training, treatment, and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. The Division may operate and/or contract for secure and community-based services. Community placement must be approved by a juvenile community review board. The Division of Youth Corrections also contracts with rural temporary holding facilities, which may hold juveniles needing staff-secure (sometimes physically secure) placement until the detention hearing. The temporary holding facilities assure that juveniles will not be held in adult jails prior to a detention hearing. Because of the distances to juvenile detention facilities, temporary holding facilities offer a local alternative to transporting juvenile’s long distances only to have to return them to the county within 48 hours. DYC operates juvenile facilities throughout the state, and is building or planning for the construction of several new facilities. Finally, DYC is also responsible for managing the state alternatives to detention and corrections program authorized by the legislature in 1991 as SB94. The legislature funded this program after determining that alternative programs might be more cost effective then the building and operating of additional facilities. The goal of the program is to reduce the average daily population of youth in DYC facilities. In the most recent fiscal year, SB94 alternative placements helped DYC meet approximately 62 percent of its ADP goals. Of the statewide ADP goal of 1,098 youth for detention and corrections combined, there were actually 1,236 youth held in DYC residential programs. This compares to 1,468 projected youth held on an average daily basis had SB94 not been implemented. Additional progress is anticipated in the years ahead as SB94 projects work to focus more directly on the appropriate populations.

I. Youthful Offender System

The Youthful Offender System (YOS) is operated by the Colorado Department of Corrections rather than the traditional system through the Division of Youth Corrections. The intent of this program is aimed at serious juvenile offenders who have been directly filed in the district court as adults, but are diverted upon sentencing to the YOS program rather than placed directly in adult facilities. In 1996, Colorado’s Children’s Code was amended to expand direct file provisions by adding certain crimes to the list for which juveniles 14 years and older may be subject to direct file. A juvenile may be sentenced to the YOS for a determinate period of not less than one year nor more than five years and a mandatory period of parole supervision for a period of one year. Upon successful completion of the programs in the YOS, including the mandatory period of supervision, the sentence to the Department of Corrections shall have been completed. Whenever a person is returned to the district court for revocation, the court shall impose the original sentence following the revocation of the sentence to the YOS. During any period of incarceration under the YOS, privileges including, but limited to, television, radios, entertainment systems, cigarettes, and access to snacks shall not be available for a youthful offender unless such privileges have been earned. YOS is not available for class 1 or 2 felonies or some sexual offenses. The YOS is under the direction and control of the Executive Director of the Department of Corrections (DOC). The DOC must implement a procedure for the transfer of an offender to another facility for vocational or training services or when an offender in the system poses a danger to himself and has been convicted of a Class 3 felony and has attained the age of eighteen (18) years. The YOS opened in 1994 and is subject to adjustments pending legislative and gubernatorial support of recommendations made by the General Assembly. Testimony provided to the Joint Budget Committee of the GA indicated that the YOS is only slightly more effective in reducing recidivism then traditional correctional methods, but may work better for more serious offenders. The program will be adjusted to focus on the serious population type. The mission of the YOS program, ". . . is to provide offenders with a controlled and regimented environment that affirms dignity of self and others, promotes value of work and self-discipline, and develops useful skills and abilities through enriched programs." A system schematic of the YOS is provided in the appendix.

II. System Flow

The procedures for processing juvenile offenders through the legal system are summarized below and illustrated in the system flow, which follows. Please note that the data requested for this section of the Three Year Plan is included in the appendix.

A. Temporary Custody

Juveniles may be taken into temporary custody by law enforcement officers when a lawful warrant has been executed or without a court order if reasonable grounds exist to believe that a juvenile has committed a delinquent act. A delinquent act is defined as a violation of any federal or state law, county or municipal ordinance, or lawful order of the court, except non-felony state traffic, game and fish, and parks and recreation laws or regulations. Temporary custody does not constitute an arrest or initiate a police record.