District Attorney

Juvenile Court

I Got A Ticket!

If you received a Juvenile Promise to Appear from law enforcement, you may be eligible for Diversion. You must contact the District Attorney's Office within 14 days to schedule your Risk Assessment Screening. 

970-498-7287

Overview

The goals of the Colorado Juvenile Justice System are to protect, restore, and improve public safety by appropriately sanctioning juveniles who violate the law and, in certain cases, providing the opportunity to bring together affected victims, the community, and juvenile offenders for restorative purposes. While holding paramount public safety, this system must take into consideration the best interests of the juvenile, the victim, and the community in providing appropriate treatment to reduce the rate of recidivism and to assist the youth in becoming a productive member of society.

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The Process

Law enforcement can refer a case to the Juvenile Justice System if a youth between the ages of 10 and 18 commits a qualifying delinquent act (violates the law). 

For lower level offenses, law enforcement can also consider other options such as warnings, school referrals, community provider referrals, or a citation into municipal court or county court. 

Step 2  

Law enforcement refers a juvenile case to the Office of the District Attorney (DA) by issuing the youth and their parent/guardian a Juvenile Promise to Appear. The DA juvenile team reviews the case to ensure that the charges are appropriate and can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, and evaluates if the case may be appropriate for a diversion resolution or if the youth needs to appear in court. This decision is based upon the facts and severity of the case, victim input, the youth’s individual needs, supports, and prior interventions.

  Step 1 Step 3  

Juvenile Diversion integrates restorative justice practices to provide community-based alternatives to the formal court system to reduce juvenile crime and recidivism and improve positive juvenile outcomes, change juvenile offenders' behavior and attitudes, promote juvenile offenders' accountability, recognize and support the rights of victims, heal the harm to relationships and the community caused by juvenile crime, and reduce the costs within the juvenile justice system. Research has shown that court involvement for juveniles not identified as a risk of harm to others can be harmful, and that most low-risk youth grow out of their behavior and stop reoffending without formal system intervention.

  Step 2 Step 4  

Colorado law requires the Office of the District Attorney to utilize a risk screening tool, called the ARNA (Arizona Risk Needs Assessment) to inform decisions about diversion. 

The risk screening tool and any information obtained from a juvenile in the course of any screening or assessment or made in order to participate in a diversion or restorative justice program is not admissible into evidence in any adjudicatory hearing in which the juvenile is accused and is not subject to subpoena or any other court process for use in any other proceeding or for any other purpose.

The DA Juvenile Team uses the results of the ARNA screening to inform the level and intensity of supervision for juvenile diversion, the length of supervision for juvenile diversion, and what services, if any, may be offered to the juvenile.

A youth must complete an ARNA screen in order to be considered for diversion. The youth and their parent/guardian must schedule the screen within 14 days of being issued a Juvenile Promise to Appear by law enforcement by calling 970-498-7287.

Youth who are accepted into the diversion program and enter into a diversion agreement may not need to appear in court. The youth and their parent/guardian must appear in court as indicated on the Juvenile Promise to Appear unless specifically advised by the District Attorney that the case is not being filed into juvenile court and that they do not need to appear.    

  Step 3 Step 5  

When a case is filed into juvenile court, the District Attorney submits a Petition in Delinquency outlining the alleged violations. At the First Appearance in juvenile court, the juvenile magistrate advises the youth of the allegations, the possible punishments, and appoints an attorney to represent the youth. The court can also consider appointing a Guardian Ad Litem, may require supervision by a Colorado Youth Detention Continuum case manager, and may issue appropriate protective orders.

  Step 4 Step 6  

Law enforcement has the option to take a youth into custody when there is probable cause that the youth committed a delinquent act. This typically occurs when the allegations are serious or there is an immediate concern for public safety, victim safety, or risk of flight.

Youth taken into custody are screened by the HUB (Larimer County’s Juvenile Assessment Center). The HUB will determine if the youth will be detained at a Division of Youth Services (DYS) facility or returned home under a home lockdown order. In either event, the youth will be required to appear at a Detention Hearing within 48 hours (weekends and holidays excluded) to determine if further detention is warranted.

Generally, the youth will only be initially detained at a DYS facility if they are accused of a “Presumption of Danger” offense, as defined by C.R.S. 19-2.5-305(3)(a)(V), or they score as “high risk” according to the Colorado Youth Detention Screening Instrument (CYDSI).

  Step 5 Step 7  

A detention hearing is held within 48 hours (weekends and holidays excluded) for all youth screened though the HUB. The youth will be represented by an attorney and may only be further detained if the court finds:

  • Probable cause exists to believe that the juvenile committed the delinquent act charged; and
  • the validated detention screening instrument has been administered and the juvenile scored as detention-eligible; or there are grounds to override the result of the detention screening instrument; and
  • The juvenile poses a substantial risk of serious harm to others or a substantial risk of flight from prosecution and community-based alternatives to detention are insufficient to reasonably mitigate that risk. Flight from prosecution is distinguished from simple failure to appear and must generally be evidenced by a demonstrated record of repeat, recent willful failures to appear at a scheduled court appearance.

The Court can not order further detention for a juvenile who is ten years of age and older but less than thirteen years of age unless the juvenile has been arrested or adjudicated for a felony or a weapons charge. 

  Step 6

FAQs

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  1. Do I have to appear in court with my child?

    Yes. If the child is under the age of 18, they must have a parent or guardian accompany them to court.

  2. Can my child be charged with a crime without law enforcement notifying me first?

    If a juvenile is accused of a felony, the officer will take the reports to the District Attorney's Office for review. Then, the Deputy District Attorney will decide on the appropriate charges. After that, a letter will be sent to the juvenile and their parents or guardians, letting them know about the court date. For misdemeanor charges, the officer will have the juvenile sign a Promise to Appear along with a parent or guardian. The court date will be written on that document.

  3. How do I get a public defender?

    You may call their office at (970) 493-1212 and press 0 to ask for assistance or you may go to their office at #1 Old Town Square, Suite 201, Fort Collins CO 80524 and fill out an application.

  4. Can law enforcement talk to my child without a parent/guardian present?

    Yes. However, if the juvenile is in custody, and the officer wants to ask them questions about their involvement in a crime, a parent/guardian must be present.

  5. What does Joint and Several restitution mean?

    If more than one juvenile is charged with a crime, the court can order all the participants to pay the full amount of restitution. Once the court has received the full amount, they will stop accepting payments. This ensures that if one defendant doesn't pay, the victim will still be fully reimbursed.

  6. Can I get a copy of a police report on a juvenile case?

    A juvenile who is charged with a crime, or their parent or guardian, is entitled to all police reports pertaining to that case. Victims can have limited access, subject to the discretion of the Deputy District Attorney. Police reports involving juveniles are not available to the general public.

  7. How can I get the police reports pertaining to my court case?

    Juveniles are typically assigned a public defender or alternative defense counsel during the entry of appearance hearing. The attorney will automatically receive a copy of all records from the DA's Office. If a juvenile decides not to work with an attorney, they can follow the process for obtaining Discovery through the DA's Office. 

    Please visit the Central Services & Discovery webpage for information regarding discovery.

Contact Information

Courtroom 2A: (970) 494-3560

District Attorney's Office, Juvenile Unit  (970) 498-7287