By Hank Wilkins
Assistant Criminal District Attorney in Bexar County
Venue in adult criminal cases is straightforward: An alleged crime happened in Lubbock County, Texas, so venue is proper in Lubbock County, and the Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney’s Office is the proper prosecuting authority. Another jurisdiction, such as Bexar County and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, would have no interest in the case, nor any argument for venue, barring exceptional circumstances.
Venue in juvenile criminal cases can also be straightforward, with proper venue occurring simply where the alleged crime occurred. However, due to the unique nature of juvenile jurisprudence, venue is not always as clear-cut as in adult cases. In certain situations, Bexar County is a proper venue for juvenile criminal cases that occurred in Lubbock County.
Exceptions
Texas Family Code §51.06 is the governing law for venue in juvenile cases. This statute restricts venue in juvenile proceedings to two possible locations:
1) the county in which the alleged conduct occurred or
2) under certain circumstances, the county in which the child resides at the time the petition is filed.[1]
The circumstances for trying a juvenile case in the youth’s county of residence are:
1) the child was under probation supervision at the time the alleged delinquent conduct occurred;
2) it cannot be determined in which county the delinquent conduct occurred; or
3) the county in which the child resides agrees to accept the case for prosecution, in writing, prior to the case being sent to the county of residence for prosecution.[2]
There is a dearth of caselaw in this area, likely because venue is seldom challenged in juvenile law cases, but that doesn’t mean a healthy discussion of such issues would not be a worthy endeavor, so we press onward.
The child was under probation supervision
If a child was already under probation supervision when he committed another offense, the case could be heard in the county where such supervision existed, in the name of judicial efficiency. As the late Robert Dawson pointed out in Texas Juvenile Law,[3] because the juvenile is already on supervision, the effect of the new charge is likely to trigger a Motion to Modify Supervision. It is more judicially expedient to bring the new charge in the county in which the juvenile is already under supervision rather than initiating new proceedings in the other county.
It’s unclear where the offense occurred
If it cannot be determined in which county the delinquent conduct occurred, “such as an offense committed near a county line or against a very young child, the petition can be filed in the county of the respondent’s residence.”[4] Offenses against young children are commonplace in the juvenile justice system,[5] and often it is difficult for them to tell authorities where they were victimized due to their age and ongoing intellectual development. This provision allows the juvenile offender’s county of residence to prosecute the case in such situations.
When the county of residence agrees in writing
This provision allows juvenile cases to be filed in the county of the juvenile’s residence if the county of residence agrees to accept the case for prosecution, in writing, ahead of time. As a practical matter and in the name of judicial efficiency, the acceptance of the case in writing could be served by the accepting county filing a Petition Alleging Delinquent Conduct.
To illustrate how this works in practice, we can revisit the Lubbock County versus Bexar County example. Say a high school band from Bexar County takes a trip to Lubbock County. While there, one juvenile student sexually assaults another. There is no outcry until the band returns home to Bexar County. In this situation, it may be more judicially efficient to prosecute the crime in the perpetrator’s county of residence (Bexar) because all or most of the parties reside there, rather than the county where the crime occurred (Lubbock). The Bexar County Criminal District Attorney’s Office could accept the case for prosecution in writing, and Bexar County would be a proper venue to prosecute the case, even though the crime occurred in Lubbock.
Conclusion
Proper venue in juvenile cases in Texas is limited to two places: the county in which the delinquent conduct occurred or the county of residence of the juvenile, but the latter is allowed only in three circumstances: when the juvenile is already under supervision in his county of residence; when the county where the delinquent conduct occurred cannot be determined; or when the county of residence accepts the case for prosecution.[6]
The goal of this quirk of the Texas Family Code is judicial efficiency. Practically, it prevents juveniles from travelling outside their county of residence to face criminal charges in limited circumstances. Criminal law practitioners would be well-served to be familiar with this provision of the Texas Family Code when practicing in Texas juvenile courts.
Endnotes
[1] In re D.J.M., 2013 WL 5936627 (2013 WL 5936627 at *3 (Tex. App.—Austin, Oct. 28, 2013).
[2] Tex. Family Code §51.06.
[3] Dawson, Robert O. Texas Juvenile Law, 9th Edition, at 155.
[4] Dawson at 155.
[5] www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/201628.pdf.
[6] Tex. Family Code §51.06.