In about three quarters of the states, there is no statute that specifies a minimum age under which a child cannot be adjudicated delinquent. Instead, the juvenile court statute typically defines a child as being younger than 18 (or another age), without making any distinction between children facing delinquency proceedings and children under the jurisdiction of the court for abuse, neglect or other issues.
Minnesota’s Court of Appeals (an intermediate appellate court) has set a minimum age of 10 for delinquency adjudications. Matter of Welfare of S.A.C., 529 N.W.2d 517 (Min. Ct. App. 1995).
The statutes of thirteen states specify a minimum age for delinquency adjudication.
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Eight states set a minimum age of 10 by statute:
Arkansas: Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-303(14)
Colorado: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 19-2-104(1)(a)
Kansas: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 38-1602(a)
Louisiana: La. Child. Code Ann. art. 804(3)
Mississippi: Miss. Code Ann. § 43-21-61(i)
South Dakota: S.D. Codified Laws § 26-8C-2
Texas: Tex. Fam. Code § 51.02(2)(A)
Vermont: Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 33 §5502(1)
One state sets a minimum age of 8:
Arizona: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 8-201(13)(iv)
Three states set a minimum age of 7:
Maryland: Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc., § 3-8A-05(d)
Massachusetts: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 52
New York: N.Y. Fam. Ct. Act § 301.2
One state sets a minimum age of 6:
North Carolina N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 7B-1501(7)
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