North Carolina’s Raise the Age law, effective December 1, 2019, moved most criminal cases involving sixteen and seventeen-year-olds out of adult court and into the juvenile system. The formal name is the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, enacted through Session Law 2017-57. Before it took effect, North Carolina was one of only two states that automatically prosecuted every sixteen-year-old as an adult.1North Carolina Judicial Branch. Raise the Age Resources The change matters because juvenile court is built around supervision and rehabilitation, and it keeps records out of public view. But the law has real limits, and knowing where they fall is the difference between a case that ends quietly and one that follows a teen for life.
Which Cases Now Start in Juvenile Court
A sixteen or seventeen-year-old charged with a crime in North Carolina is defined as a “delinquent juvenile” for most offenses. That covers misdemeanors, infractions, and Class F through I felonies. Two categories are excluded: motor vehicle offenses under Chapter 20, and any offense that would be a Class A through E felony if committed by an adult.2North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-1501 – Definitions
When a case begins in juvenile court, a juvenile court counselor screens the complaint before anything else happens. The counselor can file a formal petition, divert the teen to a community program, or close the case. Nothing like this exists in adult court, where the district attorney files charges without any preliminary screen for rehabilitation potential.3North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Raise the Age
Cases That Still Go Straight to Adult Court
Serious Felonies (Class A Through E)
The most serious felonies bypass juvenile court entirely. Class A through E covers first-degree murder (Class A), robbery with a dangerous weapon (Class D), and certain drug trafficking offenses, among others.2North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-1501 – Definitions Any charge tied to the same transaction or scheme goes with it. A teen charged with a Class D armed robbery and a related misdemeanor theft faces both in superior court.4North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 14 Article 17 – Robbery
All Chapter 20 Motor Vehicle Offenses
Every traffic and motor vehicle violation goes to adult court, from a speeding ticket to a DWI.2North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-1501 – Definitions A seventeen-year-old charged with reckless driving appears in district court, faces standard adult penalties, and has no access to a juvenile court counselor for that offense.
One consequence is easy to miss. A routine traffic ticket does not usually lock a teen out of juvenile court for later charges, but an impaired driving conviction does. A DWI at seventeen counts as an adult conviction that triggers the once-an-adult rule described below.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-1604 – Limitations on Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
Transfer to Adult Court for Mid-Level Felonies
Felonies between the automatic-adult threshold and the routine juvenile offenses have their own process under § 7B-2200.5. The rules split by class.
Class F and G Felonies
Transfer is mandatory by default. After either a grand jury indictment or a probable cause finding at a hearing, the case moves to superior court. The prosecutor can decline to prosecute in superior court and keep the case in juvenile court, and can reverse that decision any time before adjudication.6North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B Article 22 – Probable Cause Hearing and Transfer Hearing These classes include some serious assaults, certain breaking-and-entering offenses, and mid-level drug crimes. The prosecutor’s discretion tends to turn on the individual facts and the teen’s history.
Class H and I Felonies
Transfer is discretionary. After a probable cause finding, the court may transfer only on motion from the prosecutor, the juvenile’s attorney, or the court itself. These are the lowest felony classes and cover offenses like certain larcenies and possession of some controlled substances.6North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B Article 22 – Probable Cause Hearing and Transfer Hearing Most stay in juvenile court.
Remand Back to Juvenile Court
A transferred case is not permanently in adult court. If the prosecutor and the juvenile’s attorney file a joint motion, the superior court must remand the case to district court. The superior court record is expunged at remand, and the case proceeds as a juvenile matter.6North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B Article 22 – Probable Cause Hearing and Transfer Hearing
What Judges Weigh at a Transfer Hearing
North Carolina’s transfer hearing statute lists factors the court balances before sending a case to adult court:
- The juvenile’s age and maturity.
- Intellectual functioning.
- Prior record of adjudications or offenses.
- Prior attempts at rehabilitation.
- Available juvenile programs and facilities, and whether they can address the teen’s needs before jurisdiction expires.
- The nature of the offense, including whether it was aggressive, violent, premeditated, or willful.
- Seriousness and public safety concerns.
No single factor decides the outcome. The court must conclude that either public protection or the juvenile’s own needs justify transfer.7North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-2203 – Transfer Hearing
Once an Adult, Always an Adult
This is the provision families most often miss. Under § 7B-1604, a juvenile must be prosecuted as an adult for any future offense if either of two things is true: the juvenile was previously transferred to and convicted in superior court, or the juvenile was previously convicted of any felony or misdemeanor in district or superior court.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-1604 – Limitations on Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
There is one narrow exception. Motor vehicle misdemeanors and infractions do not count as triggering convictions unless the offense involved impaired driving. A seventeen-year-old convicted of speeding keeps access to juvenile court for future non-traffic charges. A seventeen-year-old convicted of DWI does not.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-1604 – Limitations on Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
The rule applies even if the later offense is a minor misdemeanor that would otherwise stay in juvenile court. Once the threshold is crossed, the rehabilitative framework is gone. A first adult-court charge for a teen matters not just for that case, but for every case that might follow.
What Juvenile Court Looks Like If the Case Stays
Juvenile dispositions do not look like adult sentencing. The court uses a structured chart that matches the offense against the teen’s prior delinquency history and produces one of three levels:
- Level 1, Community. Minor offenses with low delinquency history. Options include community service, restitution, counseling, and other community-based programs.
- Level 2, Intermediate. More serious offenses or teens with a record. The court must impose at least one intermediate sanction, such as intensive probation, electronic monitoring, or a residential treatment placement.
- Level 3, Commitment. The most restrictive level, requiring commitment to a youth development center operated by the Division of Juvenile Justice.
A court can step down from Level 3 to Level 2 with written findings of extraordinary needs, or step up to Level 3 when a teen has four or more prior adjudications.8North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7B-2508 – Dispositional Limits for Each Class of Offense
Juvenile dispositions are designed to end. Jurisdiction expires, and the focus is treatment. An adult convicted of a Class H felony faces the structured sentencing grid and possible prison time. A juvenile adjudicated delinquent for the same conduct may be placed in a community program or a residential facility.
Records, Confidentiality, and Expungement
Juvenile records in North Carolina are not public. They can be examined only by court order, with limited exceptions for the juvenile and their attorney, parents, prosecutors, and court counselors. A prosecutor can share limited information with law enforcement but cannot let officers copy the records, and the court can seal portions of the file.9North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 7B-3000 – Examination of Juvenile Records
Expungement is available but takes a petition. Once the person turns eighteen, has been released from juvenile court jurisdiction, and has stayed out of trouble for at least eighteen months, they can petition to expunge all records of a delinquency adjudication. Expungement is not available for offenses that would have been Class A through E felonies if committed by an adult. For dismissed cases where no adjudication occurred, the person can petition for expungement at age sixteen.10North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 7B-3200 – Expungement of Juvenile Records
An adult conviction, by contrast, is a permanent public record that appears on background checks for employment, housing, and education. For a seventeen-year-old charged with a Class H felony, the split between a juvenile adjudication and an adult conviction can shape the next decade. Handled properly, the juvenile record eventually disappears. The adult record does not.