What Is A Juvenile Detention Hearing?

 Posted on July 23,2020 in Juvenile Law

The initial hearing in a juvenile case is called the detention hearing. It's the first time you'll see your child in court and the first time your judge will have an opportunity to speak with you, your attorney and your child.

What determines my child's release?

So the judge in the hearings can do two things. The first is they're gonna make a probable cause finding based on testimony from the probation office, police reports, videos, pictures to make that determination as to whether or not there's reason to believe your child committed a crime. If they do make that finding, they'll be on to the second part of the hearing which is the big part -- the release or detain determination. In that decision-making process, the judge willl look to the Texas Family Code which lays out a criteria in which children should be released and when they should be detained.

What are some aspects to keep in mind about my child's hearing?

A couple things to keep in mind -- the first is that juvenile detention hearings happen very quickly, usually within 48 hours of the arrest. So you're gonna get the terrible phone call that your child has been arrested and then very shortly after you're gonna get a second phone call letting you know they have court coming up. The second thing to keep in mind is that you do have a right to have your attorney present and arguing for your child's release at this hearing. The third thing to keep in mind is that if your child is detained they'll be detained in a local detention center, which is a lot like a jail with the exception that no adults are there. If your child is detained, they'll be detained for up to 10 working days before they'll be eligible for a subsequent detention hearing and another shot at convincing the judge to release your child.

My child was arrested. What should I do now?

So the takeaway here is pretty simple. If your child is arrested or even being investigated for a juvenile crime, you're gonna want to get a defense attorney involved as quickly as possible. That way your attorney can start preparing for detention hearing, their defense and to argue for their release after detention.