Ohio is a decentralized state. Delinquency services are organized at both the state and local level in Ohio. Counties fund detention services, and either the county or the juvenile court administers detention facilities.

How is detention organized? 

Either the county or the juvenile court administers Ohio's 41 juvenile detention centers. Individual counties are responsible for funding juvenile detention services. In a county without a detention facility, the juvenile court may enter into a contract with another juvenile court, another county's detention facility, or a joint county detention facility.

Depending on the county, either prosecutors or intake officers make diversion decisions. The Ohio Rules of Juvenile Procedure states that, in all appropriate cases formal action should be avoided and other community resources utilized to ameliorate situations brought to the court's attention.

Statute created the Office of Victim Services (OVS), a component of the Release Authority, in 1998 to be an effective, supportive, and informative resource for victims.

By statute, juvenile courts may administer probation departments or may contract out for probation services. Counties may also establish departments of probation.

Generally, counties require a degree at the associate or bachelor level. In some counties, experience may serve as the equivalent for a college degree. Juvenile probation officers are not professionally certified in Ohio.

Juveniles may be committed  to the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) for institutional care provided the youth is at least 10 years of age at the time of the youth's delinquent act. 

All releases are to be approved by the court of jurisdiction. The Release Authority, a bureau within the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS), Division of Parole and Community Services, is authorized to grant release from institutional care to those youth who have completed their judicially mandated minimum term of commitment.

The Bureau of Parole (BOP) within the Division of Parole and Community Services of the Department of Youth Services (DYS) provides parole supervision and related services to youth on parole until DYS' Release Authority discharges the youth. Staff in DYS' regional offices provides supervision.

Ohio’s Purpose clause is rooted in an elaborate, multi-part clause contained in the Legislative Guide for Drafting Family and Juvenile Court Acts. 

Lower Age: None specified

Upper Age: 17

Extended Age of Delinquency Jurisdiction: 20

The Ohio Department of Youth Services uses an Ohio-specific juvenile justice assessment system, consisting of 5 assessment tools.