How Juvenile Court works...

In Abuse/Neglect cases

The county attorney's office may file a petition naming either a parent, or both parents, of a minor child on charges of abuse and/or neglect. Although the terms, "abuse" and "neglect", sound harsh, it doesn't necessarily mean the parents are bad parents or bad people. It simply means that at some point in time, prior to filing of the petition, a child may have been at risk of harm and the county attorney has elected to pursue the matter in court. In some cases, the parents did not realize the child was at risk for harm. Sometimes, the parents realized the risk, but did not know how to solve the problem or needed help to eliminate the risk of harm to the child. A parent who has been named in a petition for abuse/neglect has one of two choices. The parent may elect to dispute the charges and try to prevent the court from taking jurisdiction over them and their child; or the parent may agree to accept responsibility for one or more of the charges and request the assistance of the court in solving the problems they face keeping their child safe from harm. If the court takes jurisdiction, then the court may order services to be provided to the family to help towards reunification. If the parent cannot afford those services, the court may order the services to be paid through public funds. If, after a reasonable amount of time (usually 15-22 months) the family is not able to function safely without intervention of the court, the court may move towards terminating the parental rights to make the child available for adoption with suitable parents. It is very important that each parent appearing before the Juvenile Court have an attorney to represent them every step of the way. If they cannot afford a lawyer, the court will appoint a lawyer to represent them.

In Delinquency/Status offense cases

The county attorney's office may file a petition against a minor child on charges of either a delinquency or a status offense. Delinquency relates to charges that would be chargeable as a crime in adult court, e.g. shoplifting, vandalism, burglary, possession of drugs, etc. A Status offense is an offense only because of the minor child's age, e.g. truancy, possession of alcohol, breaking curfew, etc. These petitions are usually filed only against older children who are considered mature enough to accept some responsibility for their own actions. Only the child is a party to these cases, not the parent or parents. The court expects a parent to be present at these proceedings and will often invite the parent to address the court with their thoughts regarding the case. If the parent cannot afford to hire an attorney for the child, the court will appoint a lawyer to represent the child; but the attorney does not represent the parent. The lawyer represents only the child and the child has the right to communicate with his lawyer without the parent being present. If the court finds the charges in the county attorney's petition to be true, the court may order the child to be placed on probation or committed to the Office of Juvenile Services for placement at a rehabilitation facility. If the child is placed on probation, the court may allow the child to remain at home or the court may order the child to be placed in foster care or a group home. The court is not required to accept jurisdiction over a minor child and may decide that the child has exhausted all rehabilitative efforts available through the Juvenile Court and remand the child to be charged as an adult.

Intervening in a Juvenile Court case

A non-custodial parent, grandparent, or close relative may seek permission of the court to intervene and become a party to Abuse/Neglect cases under certain circumstances. In some cases, the court may appoint a lawyer to represent them in this effort if they cannot afford a lawyer. In any case, they are not a party to the case unless they are named in the petition filed by the county attorney or the court grants them permission to intervene in the case. They are usually welcome to appear in court as an observer and interested party even if they have not intervened.

D.A. "Duke" Drouillard

Drouillard Law, LLC
1603 Farnam St.
Omaha, NE 68102

Office: (402) 905-2100
Fax: (402) 905-2101

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Duke Drouillard is a Nebraska lawyer, attorney, and counselor at law who provides legal services to the communities of Omaha, Bellevue, Millard, Bennington, Irvington, West Omaha, South Omaha, Papillion, La Vista, and Gretna in Douglas County, Washington County, and Sarpy County of Eastern Nebraska. Duke Drouillard provides estate planning services in the form of wills, trusts, special needs trusts, IRA trusts, family trusts, legacy trusts, heritage trusts, revocable living trusts (RLT), irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILIT), advanced medical directives (living will), general power of attorney (POA), medical power of attorney (MPOA), limited power of attorney (LPOA), durable power of attorney (DPOA), HIPAA releases, and planning for special needs children. Duke Drouillard offers probate services to probate a new estate, reopen a closed estate, assist personal representatives or executors, defend challenges to wills, administer a trust, advise trustees, pay inheritance tax, estate tax, generation skipping tax (GST), and gift tax. Duke Drouillard is located in the Farm Credit Building at 206 S. 19th St., #336 Omaha, NE 68102. Duke Drouillard practices criminal defense work for those charged with a crime, misdemeanor or felony, in federal, state, and county courts. If you have been arrested for drugs, marijuana, meth, crack cocaine, assault, robbery, burglary, rape, sex crime, child pornography, white collar crime, embezzlement, theft, shoplifting, DUI, DWI, intoxicated, shooting, gun possession, domestic violence, killing, murder, or attempted murder please call Duke Drouillard to day to inquire about hiring him as your lawyer. Duke Drouillard also practices in juvenile court in the separate juvenile court of douglas county to defend parents charged with neglect or abuse of their children based on their child's involvement with CPS or DHHS. Duke Drouillard also represents children, kids, and minors charged with status offenses like truancy or delinquency offenses like shoplifting, assault, burglary, robbery, or drugs.