Draft:Arkansas Juvenile Courts

Arkansas Juveniles courts are a product of legislation first enacted in 1911. The Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 215 of 1911, which was titled "An act creating and establishing a juvenile court in the several counties of this State, defining the jurisdiction and powers thereof, providing for the support of the same, and for other purposes." It was approved by the General Assembly on April 25, 1911. Under Act 215, "The Juvenile Court" was established in each county to "be held by the county judge of the county". (sec. 1) Act 215 was challenge on constitutional grounds in the case Ex parte King, 141 Ark. 213, 217 S.W. 465 (1919), in which the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the validity of the legislation.

Major revisions of the "Arkansas Juvenile Code" were the subject of acts passed in 1975 (The Juvenile Code of 1975), and in 1989 (The Juvenile Code of 1989), the latter being the current law, as amended, and codified at Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-301 et seq.

Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution was approved by voters in 2000, and became effective on July 1, 2001; with some provisions becoming effective January 1, 2005. The Amendment merged the chancery and circuit courts into the circuit courts, and provided that the Supreme Court had supervisory authority over them. As such, the Supreme Court has established subject matter divisions for the circuit courts pursuant to Administrative Order No. 14, which includes "criminal, civil, juvenile, probate, and domestic relations." Admin. Order. No. 14(1). After the enactment of Amendment 80, the General Assembly amended the Arkansas Juvenile Code to reflect the change in the judiciary, primarily through Act 1166 of 2003.

At this time, the juvenile division of the circuit courts covers matters of juvenile delinquency, dependent-neglect, and family in need of services. Though the juvenile judges are circuit judges, and thus authorized to hear any type of case, the judicial districts each have their own "Administrative Plan" pursuant to Administrative Order No. 14(3), which are approved by the Supreme Court. Such administrative plans establish case assignments for the various circuit judges in that district, so that certain judges will hear a certain portion of cases in the various subject matter divisions. See Admin. Order No. 14(3).

Delinquency cases are brought by the prosecuting attorney for the county (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-310), juvenile defendants are represented either by private counsel or court-appointed public defenders (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-316), and the court is assisted by juvenile probation officers. (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-308)

Dependency-neglect cases are brought by the Arkansas Department of Human Services, though private petitions are allowed (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-310); juveniles are represented by an Attorney ad litem through the Administrative Office of the Courts (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-316); parents are represented either by private counsel or court-appointed parent counsel through the Public Defenders Commission (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-316); and the court may be assisted by a court-appointed special advocate (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-316).

Family in need of services (FINS) cases are usually brought by the prosecuting attorney, though private petitions are allowed (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-310); juveniles are represented by private counsel or public defender (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-316); parents are represented by private counsel; and courts are assisted by FINS officers. (Ark. Code Ann. 9-27-308)

Appeals of juveniles matters are to the Arkansas Court of Appeals in accordance with Rule 1-2 of the Rules of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Arkansas, and dependency-neglect appeals are subject to special rules under Rule 6-9.