Under Indiana’s juvenile sentencing guidelines, a judge who finds that a child committed a delinquent act can order probation, outpatient treatment, out-of-home placement, wardship, family services, a no-contact order, restitution, community service, license suspension, or commitment to the Department of Correction’s Division of Youth Services — often in combination. The most serious violent and drug-dealing charges against sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds skip juvenile court entirely and are sentenced under adult criminal law.
What the Court Can Order After Adjudication
A juvenile adjudication is the equivalent of a conviction in adult court, but the sentencing menu looks very different. Indiana law lets the judge enter one or more of the following dispositional orders at the same hearing:1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 37 Chapter 19 – Section 31-37-19-1
- Probation under the supervision of the county probation department, with conditions tailored to the child.
- Outpatient treatment through a social service agency, mental health facility, medical provider, educational program, or individual practitioner.
- Out-of-home placement in a group home, child caring institution, shelter care facility, or secure private facility.
- Wardship to another person or a shelter care facility.
- Family services that the child, a parent, guardian, or custodian must participate in.
- A no-contact order barring direct or indirect contact with a named person.
These are cumulative options, not alternatives. A single disposition can combine probation with mandatory outpatient counseling, a curfew, and a no-contact order, all enforced by the same probation officer.
How Juvenile Probation Works in Practice
Probation is the most common disposition, and its conditions turn on the child’s assessed risk and needs.2State of Indiana. Indiana’s Plan for Juvenile Probation Standards Standard conditions typically include school attendance, participation in counseling or treatment, a curfew, and regular meetings with a probation officer. For certain adjudications the conditions run deeper. A juvenile adjudicated for a sex offense, for example, must complete a court-approved treatment program and comply with detailed behavioral requirements.3Indiana Courts. Indiana Recommended Special Probation Conditions for Juvenile Sex Offenders
Probation officers also connect the family to community resources and coordinate with schools and treatment providers. The family carries the cost of any rehabilitative services or classes provided through the probation department.
Restitution, Community Service, and License Consequences
For certain offenses the court can layer on additional orders: restitution to the victim, community service for a specified period, surrender of the child’s driver’s license, or participation in an alcohol and drug services program.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Section 31-37-19-5 Restitution has its own procedure. The victim must provide reasonable evidence of the loss, and the child can challenge the amount at the dispositional hearing.
Commitment to the Department of Correction
When community-based options have failed or the offense is severe, the court can commit the child to the Indiana Department of Correction. Juvenile commitments fall under the Division of Youth Services, which operates separately from adult corrections and houses juveniles in a network of state facilities.5Indiana Public Defender Council. Indiana Juvenile Facilities This is generally the last stop within the juvenile system, reserved for the most serious adjudications.
Diversion and Informal Adjustment Before Sentencing
Not every referral reaches disposition. Indiana codified youth diversion programs through 2022 legislation, giving counties flexibility to route eligible cases, often first-time misdemeanors, into community-based programming instead of a filed petition.6State of Indiana. Juvenile Diversion Resource Guide Indiana also uses informal adjustment, in which a probation officer works with the child and family on a voluntary basis, setting conditions like school attendance, community service, or counseling. Complete the conditions and the case closes with no adjudication on the record. That distinction matters at every future turn, because an adjudication carries consequences an informal adjustment does not.
When the Case Skips Juvenile Court Entirely
Indiana’s sentencing framework has a hard ceiling: for the most serious charges, juvenile court has no jurisdiction and the child is sentenced as an adult. Two mechanisms move a case out of juvenile court, and they operate very differently.
Statutory Exclusion
If a child was at least sixteen at the time of the alleged offense and is charged with murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, armed robbery, robbery causing bodily injury, or certain firearms felonies, the case is filed directly in adult court.7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 30 Chapter 1 – Section 31-30-1-4 Dealing offenses involving cocaine, narcotics, and Schedule I through IV controlled substances also trigger statutory exclusion at age sixteen.8Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Indiana’s Transfer Laws No hearing is held. Juvenile court simply does not have the case.
There is a narrow safety valve. If the child is acquitted of every excluded offense or those charges are dismissed, but the child is convicted of a lesser offense not on the exclusion list, the adult court can transfer jurisdiction back to juvenile court after considering whether appropriate juvenile services exist, whether the child is amenable to rehabilitation, and whether community safety supports the transfer.7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 30 Chapter 1 – Section 31-30-1-4
Judicial Waiver
For cases that don’t fall under statutory exclusion, the prosecutor can ask the juvenile court to waive jurisdiction. The standards depend on age and offense:
- Age 14 and older: the court may waive jurisdiction for a heinous or aggravated felony, or a felony that is part of a repetitive pattern of delinquent behavior, if it finds probable cause, concludes the child is beyond rehabilitation in the juvenile system, and determines that community safety requires adult prosecution.9Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 30 Chapter 3 – Section 31-30-3-2
- Age 10 and older, charged with murder: the court must waive jurisdiction upon finding probable cause, unless retaining the case serves both the child’s best interests and community safety.10Justia. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 30 Chapter 3
- Age 16 and older, charged with a Level 1 through Level 4 felony, involuntary manslaughter, or reckless homicide: the court must waive jurisdiction unless retention serves the child’s interests and community safety.10Justia. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 30 Chapter 3
- Any age with a prior adult conviction: if the child has previously been convicted of a felony or nontraffic misdemeanor in adult court and is now charged with a new felony, waiver is automatic.8Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Indiana’s Transfer Laws
The difference between “may waive” and “shall waive” is everything. When the statute says “may,” the judge has real discretion and can keep the case in juvenile court even for a serious charge. When the statute says “shall,” the presumption flips, and the case moves to adult court unless the judge affirmatively finds reasons to keep it.
Constitutional Limits on Adult-Court Sentences for Juveniles
When a juvenile is sentenced in adult court, the U.S. Constitution places hard limits on the outcome. In Graham v. Florida, the Supreme Court held that sentencing a juvenile to life without parole for a non-homicide offense violates the Eighth Amendment. The state does not have to guarantee release, but it must provide a meaningful opportunity to demonstrate maturity and rehabilitation.11Legal Information Institute. Graham v. Florida Two years later, Miller v. Alabama struck down mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile homicide offenders, requiring the sentencer to consider the child’s age and individual circumstances first.12Justia. Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
Montgomery v. Louisiana made the Miller rule retroactive, so juveniles already serving mandatory life-without-parole sentences became eligible for resentencing or parole consideration.13Justia. Montgomery v. Louisiana In 2021, Jones v. Mississippi clarified that a sentencer does not need to make a separate finding that a juvenile is permanently incorrigible before imposing life without parole. Discretionary consideration of youth is required; a specific factual finding is not.14Constitution Annotated. Amdt8.4.4 Proportionality and Juvenile Offenders A judge who considers the juvenile’s age and circumstances and still imposes life without parole has not violated the Constitution, but a scheme that makes that sentence automatic does.
Clearing the Record After the Sentence
A juvenile adjudication is not a criminal conviction, but the record can block employment, education, housing, and military service. Indiana law lets any person petition to expunge juvenile court records at any time, with no mandatory waiting period.15State of Indiana. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 39 Chapter 8 – Expungement of Records You file the petition in the juvenile court that heard the original case. The prosecuting attorney has thirty days to object. If no objection is filed, the court can rule without a hearing. If the prosecutor objects, the court sets a hearing.
In deciding whether to grant the petition, the judge weighs the best interests of the child, the age at the time of contact with the court or law enforcement, the nature of the allegations and whether there was an adjudication, how well the person complied with court-ordered programs, how long the person has gone without further involvement with courts or law enforcement, and any current criminal record or present circumstances.
If the court grants the petition, law enforcement agencies and service providers send their records to the court, which either destroys them or releases them to the person concerned.16Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 39 Chapter 8 – Section 31-39-8-3 Expungement is not automatic. One catch worth knowing: if the person later files a civil lawsuit that could be defended using information from the expunged records, the defendant is presumed to have a complete defense, and the person bringing the suit bears the burden of proving the expunged records would not help the other side.