Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2016

This fact sheet presents national estimates of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 2016 and analyzes caseload trends since 2005. In 2016, juvenile courts in the United States handled 850,500 delinquency cases that involved juveniles charged with criminal law violations, 4% less than the number of cases handled in 2015. From 2005 through 2016, the number of delinquency cases declined 49%, with decreases experienced in all four offense categories: property offense cases (down 54%), public order offense cases (down 51%), person offense cases (down 44%), and drug law violation cases (down 42%). In 2016, property offense cases accounted for the largest proportion (33%) of the delinquency caseload, followed by person offense cases (29%), public order offense cases (25%).

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