A STUDY OF PROSECUTORIAL CERTIFICATION PRACTICE IN VIRGINIA

Abstract

Research Summary: In response to the growing trend of violent juvenile crime, the Virginia legislature enacted the Juvenile Justice Reform Package in 1996. This legislation created two new classes of transfers: automatic and prosecutorial certifications. This article examines the prosecutor's decision to certify a juvenile offender to adult court in Virginia for intake cases in 1997 and 1998. Although the law gives the prosecutor the authority to certify all cases that meet certain criteria, only a portion of those are actually certified, which indicates that other factors must be impacting the decision. A number of factors relating to present and prior offenses, offender's social history characteristics, and the location of the courts were examined. Location of the court was important in influencing prosecutorial certification in Virginia. Policy Implications: The policy implications of the following three key findings are discussed: (1) Small percentage of waiver‐eligible offenders at intake are actually transferred; (2) Considerable variation in certification practice across localities; (3) Serious juvenile offenders are more likely to be waived. The analysis of juvenile records was supplemented with qualitative interviews with key decision makers in the transfer process, including a sample of judges, prosecutors, court service unit directors, and probation officers. These key decision makers provided feedback to improve the certification processes. Key feedback included the need for information systems to follow the flow of transfer cases through the system and the need for a three‐tiered placement system within the adult system whereby offenders are separated by age and maturity.