Court Hearings

If the intake officer decides that your case should be handled in the juvenile court system, you will have to attend several different kinds of hearings. This section describes each hearing and what you should expect to happen at each court hearing.

Court hearings are held in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations 18^th District Court, located at 520 King Street in Old Town Alexandria.

Here is some information on how to behave in court:

DO the following:

• Be on time. You should arrive early because it takes time to pass through the metal detector.
• Dress appropriately. Do not wear shorts, tank tops, tee shirts with words or pictures, hats or sagging pants.
• Listen carefully for the sheriff's deputy to call your name.
• Be respectful and polite.

Do NOT do the following: 

• Do not smoke cigarettes outside the courthouse.
• Do not chew gum inside the courthouse.
• Do not bring a weapon or cell phone into the courthouse.
• Sometimes people have to wait a long time for their hearing to be called. However, you should not leave the courtroom area without permission.

Advisement of Rights Hearing

What happens at the Advisement of Rights Hearing?
You will meet the intake officer assigned to your case before this hearing to make sure you understand your rights and the court process. The intake officer will help you with forms to request a lawyer, if necessary.

The Advisement of Rights Hearing is a short court procedure where the judge will explain the charges filed against you and ask you if you want a lawyer to help you through the court process. If you cannot afford to hire a private lawyer, the court will assign one. The court appointed lawyer may be a public defender or it could be a private lawyer. If you ask the judge to assign a lawyer to help you, you and your parents will be asked to give the court financial information. It is always recommended that you request a lawyer to represent you.

Who will be there?

• The Juvenile Court Judge and Clerk
• Deputy Sheriff(s)
• You and your parent(s) or guardian(s)
• Intake Officer
• Public Defender
• Commonwealth Attorney

What are the possible consequences of the Advisement of Rights Hearing?

• You can say that you plan to hire a private lawyer.
• The court can appoint a lawyer to represent you.
• The court will decide if you will be held at the detention center, or if you can be released to your family or guardian. The court may require you to follow rules if you are released, such as “home detention” or a curfew. If you don’t follow the rules, you can be sent to detention. The court could also decide that you should be placed in a temporary group home called “Shelter Care,” while you are waiting for trial of your case.

Why would you be held in detention?
The judge may decide to hold you in detention if he or she believes that:

• You present a danger to other people;
• You present a danger to yourself;
• You may not appear for a court hearing; or
• In the past, you have run away from a placement where a judge ordered you to stay.

Where would you be held in the detention?
At the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Home ("Landmark") located at 200 S. Whiting Street in the west end of the City of Alexandria.

How long can you be held in detention?

• If you are held before your adjudication (trial), you cannot be held for more than 21 days. 
• If you are held after your adjudication hearing, you cannot be held for more than an additional 30 days before your disposition or sentencing hearing.
• In some cases, after a finding of guilt, the judge can sentence you to up to 6 months in detention.

Adjudication Hearing or Trial

The next court hearing is called the adjudication hearing (also referred to as the trial). At this hearing, the lawyers will present evidence and the judge will decide if you are guilty or not guilty. If other people know what happened in your case, your lawyer or the prosecutor may ask them to come to court as witnesses to tell the judge what they know. Witnesses must tell the truth in court. This hearing is like a trial that you might see on TV, but there is no jury.

How soon must the Adjudication Hearing take place?
If you have been held in detention since your Advisement of Rights Hearing, the Adjudication Hearing must take place within 21 days of the time that you were detained. If you were allowed to go home before your court trial, the adjudication hearing must be held within 120 days since your advisement.

Who will be there?

• Juvenile Court Judge, the clerk, the deputy sheriff
• You and your parent(s) or guardian(s)
• Your lawyer (defense attorney)
• The Commonwealth's Attorney (prosecutor)
• The police officer who took the report or made the investigation
• And possibly witnesses

What are the possible results of the Adjudication Hearing?

1. The judge finds you guilty of the charges. In this case, the judge will decide what sentence is appropriate. The judge may make a partial or full sentence as soon as you are found guilty or the judge may set another hearing to sentence you and ask for more information about you. The Court Service Unit may be asked to prepare a report for the judge about you and your family
   
   
2. The judge may delay finding you guilty and offer you the chance to have the charges dropped or reduced later if you meet certain conditions.
   
   
3. The judge finds you not guilty of the charges. In this case, no further court action is taken.
   

Special Note: If you are age 14 or older and the Judge finds you guilty of a serious crime (felony), you will be ordered to give a DNA sample to the Deputy Sheriff before you leave the courthouse. If you go to detention after the adjudication hearing, the DNA sample will be taken there. The DNA sample consists of a simple swab of saliva from the mouth.

Adjudication Hearing for Child in Need of Supervision (CHINS)
A Child in Need of Services/Supervision (CHINS) is a juvenile who is absent from school without a reason or who runs away from home. At the CHINS hearing the person bringing the charge presents evidence about whether you are absent from school too often or run away from home without your parents’ permission. If the judge finds that you are a Child in Need of Supervision (CHINS), he or she will order that your case be presented to a Family Assessment and Planning Team (FAPT), or another similar panel. The FAPT will be given information about your background and will make recommendations to the judge about treatment for you and your family.

Dispositional Hearings

Disposition Hearing (Sentencing)
If you are found guilty of a criminal charge, the judge will decide what kind of treatment or sentence you should receive.

Who will be there?

• Juvenile Court Judge
• You and your parent(s) or guardian(s)
• Your lawyer (defense attorney)
• The Commonwealth's Attorney (prosecutor)
• Probation Officer
• Deputy Sheriff

How soon will the Disposition Hearing take place? 
Sometimes the judge will decide what kind of treatment or sentence you should receive at the Adjudication Hearing.

In other cases, the judge may delay sentencing to get more information about your background (called a dispositional report) and other specific circumstances regarding your offense. This information is gathered by a probation officer. The probation officer makes recommendations to the Judge based on the facts of his pre-dispositional report.

If you are held in detention after adjudication, you must be sentenced within 30 days or be released from detention.

What are the possible results of the dispositional hearing?
The judge may give you one or more of these sentences, including:

• Place you on probation to the court
• Require you to follow probation rules
• Order your parents to cooperate with certain programs or services
• Order treatment for drug or alcohol use
• Order you to pay a fine of up to $500.00
• Require you to pay back the victim (restitution)
• Order you to perform community service
• Order you to complete a special court service unit program like Day Reporting, Shoplifter’s Alternative, and other groups and activities
• Place you in the custody of a responsible adult or the Department of Social Services
• Sentence you to detention for up to 6 months
• Commit you to the Department of Juvenile Justice to be held in a Juvenile Correctional
  Facility (Richmond) for an indefinite or definite period of time (up to your 21^st birthday)
• Suspend your driver’s license (Special note: There are some cases where the judge must suspend your license or ability to get your license. These include drug, alcohol and firearms offenses) 

(Special Note: If you are sentenced for homicide, felonious assault, criminal sexual assault, certain drug charges, burglary, arson, robbery, or some firearms violations, the court clerk must notify the superintendent of schools where you live or attend school.)

Child in Need of Supervision Disposition Hearing (CHINS)

If the Court finds you guilty of truancy or being a runaway, you will be sentenced as a Child in Need of Supervision. The Judge reviews the recommendations from the Family Assessment and Planning Team or interagency team and then decides what type of service or sentence to require that you follow. The Judge may also review a dispositional report prepared by a probation officer.

What are the possible results at a Child in Need of Supervision Hearing?
The Judge may enter one or more of the following orders:

• Place you on probation
• Order you to complete Shelter Care
• Order you to attend school
• Order you to stay home
• Order you and/or your family to participate in treatment or any appropriate program designed for you
• Require you to complete community service
• Place you in custody of the Department of Social Services

* You and your parents will receive a written copy of the judge's order.

What could happen if you don't follow the judge's order in a Child in Need of Supervision case?
You could be charged with violating a court order and if the judge finds you guilty, you could:

• Be placed in detention for up to 10 days for each violation
• Be placed in custody of the Department of Social Services
• Have your driver’s license taken away or suspended