A 16-yr-old was charged with Failure to Attend School. He requested deferred adjudication through the county's Teen Court (Fam Code 54.032), which was granted by the JP. Time has passed and the juvenile did not successfully complete Teen Court, and has since turned 17. The JP wants to find him in contempt of court and lock him up in county.

I think she needs to complete the adjudication and sentence him under CCP 45.054 to complete a GED, plus suspend his DL.

But can his failure to complete Teen Court amount to Contempt of Court under CCP 45.050? I still see no authority to jail the 17 yr old. Am I missing something?? Does 45.060 apply at all?

The JP has a hearing on this at 2:00 on Thursday, so quick advice would be helpful.

Debra, I have lots of follow-up questions, ie what violation occurred, when did the viol occur (16 yrs old or 17 yrs)is the order still in effect..., but the short answer is no I don't think the judge can go from deferred to contempt. A whole lot depends on what the court order says. and to find the kid in contempt and send him to jail will require notice, hearing & counsel. see new contempt procedures in FC. a typical truancy to contempt case means to waive jurisdiction to juve court not put the kid in jail. I agree an adjudication should occur. if jail is the desired effect, then judge could adjudicate, assess a fine & if fine is not paid he could go to jail. hope this helps. sp

The original offense was failure to attend shcool. I'm not sure the kid ever went to teen court at all. I know he hasn't been attending school. He has only recently 9-28-04 turned 17, so the violation occurred at age 16.

The JP really wants to get this guy's attention, so we'll try the adjudication and fine.

Thanks!