Fewer Teens Being Prosecuted as Adults in Arizona

The juvenile population in Arizona continues to rise, with projections from the Arizona Department of Economic Security suggesting as much as a 25% increase in the next 10 years. These numbers are in line with what Arizona has seen over the past 5 years--a 10% increase in the juvenile population since 2006.
Despite this increase in overall juvenile population, fewer of Arizona’s youth are entering probation and being sent to adult court. Between fiscal year 2010 and 2011, Arizona sent 15% less juveniles to adult court while the overall juvenile population increased by just over 2%. For the visual learners out there, take a look at this graph:

Of course there are a number of reasons that these numbers are declining. From the report:

The number of juveniles progressing through the juvenile justice system is influenced by several factors, such as legislative actions, law enforcement and prosecutorial practices, and the number of juvenile’s age eight to seventeen years old in Arizona’s population. Throughout 2011, the juvenile population continues to increase steadily, as evidenced in the Arizona Juvenile Population Estimates and Projections chart in this section.

Read the report in full at the National Juvenile Justice Network >>

David Backes is an account executive at Prichard Communications.