Delinquency Services Summary
Decentralized State: Delinquency services are organized at both the state and local level in Nevada. District juvenile courts, except in Clark County, administer most secure detention facilities in the state and juvenile probation services. Clark County's Department of Juvenile Justice Services, under the Board of County Commissioners, administers detention, probation, and aftercare. Youth Correctional Services, Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), Department of Human Resources administers commitment programs and aftercare services.

Court(s) with Delinquency Jurisdiction
District Courts exercise jurisdiction over delinquency proceedings in most districts. District Courts are general jurisdiction trial courts. However, in the Eighth Judicial District (Las Vegas) and the Second Judicial District (Reno), Family Divisions handle juvenile delinquency cases. Nevada's 17 counties are divided into 9 judicial districts. Some districts encompass only one county while districts in more rural areas may include more than one county. For more information, download the Nevada Supreme Court's Annual Report.

Highlights

Graduated Sanctions Demonstration Site
Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada has participated in a national graduated sanctions project that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded to the Juvenile Sanctions Division of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Clark County’s Department of Juvenile Justice Services has initiated a resource reallocation program to reduce the detention population and allow for personnel to focus on community-based services. Continuous population growth at the rate of approximately 4,000 per month presents a challenge to goal attainment. The county led the way in restructuring contractual services and forming a continuum responsive to offender and family needs, as assessed by the court. The agency has refurbished its risk/needs assessment format and implemented a gender-specific residential treatment program for young female offenders. For more information contact, Cherie Townsend, Director, Clark County Juvenile Justice Services, at (702) 455-5210.

Clark and Washoe County has been actively involved with the Anne E. Casey Foundation, Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. Additionally, Clark County participates in the Performance Based Standards Initiative within their juvenile detention facility.

Detention
Clark County's Department of Juvenile Justice Services, under the Board of County Commissioners, administers a secure juvenile detention facility. Probation departments operate secure detention facilities under a juvenile or family court judge's direction in the following counties: Carson City, Douglas, Elko, Humboldt, Mineral, and Washoe. Alternatives to detention include electronic monitoring, home detention, and day reporting programs. Other rural jurisdictions without secure detention facilities utilize these alternatives as well as evening reporting centers.

The detention centers have adopted a standardized assessment tool, developed by the Silver State Detention Association, for screening admissions. Statute requires screening juveniles in detention for mental health and substance abuse problems. Clark and Washoe County utilize a Risk Assessment Instrument developed for utilization with their Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative projects.

Juveniles may be held in detention while awaiting adjudication, disposition, or placement. Detention may also be used as a sanction for violating probation and as a disposition. NRS 62C.030 outlines criteria for detaining a juvenile before disposition, including that he or she poses a danger to him or herself, the community, or property, may run away, or is a fugitive. In 1998, through court order, the state implemented a 30-day maximum waiting period for youth awaiting placement in detention. Youth can be sentenced to secure detention for up to 30 days for violating probation.

Under NRS 62C.040, the timeframes for detention hearings vary depending on circumstances. For example, detention hearings must be held within 24 hours if the juvenile submits a written application. Juveniles being held in adult facilities must receive a detention hearing within 24 hours or 6 hours, depending on county population size. Juveniles held in facilities not for adults must receive detention hearings within 72 hours.

Delinquency Intake Screening
Any person who has knowledge of the alleged facts may file a delinquency complaint. Intake workers or probation officers (depending on the county) in the probation department's assessment unit receive delinquency referrals from law enforcement and screen them for legal sufficiency, with the district attorney's review if there is a challenge. Probation officers may recommend handling the case formally, but the district attorney makes the final handling and charging decisions. The district attorney prepares and signs the petition before it is filed with the court.

The Washoe County (Reno) Department of Juvenile Services uses a modified version of the Nevada Association of Juvenile Justice Administrators' community probation placement instrument at intake. The Clark County (Las Vegas) Department of Juvenile Justice Services' intake unit uses the Service Assessment System, an assessment and screening tool, and plans to develop an empirically-based instrument. Rural counties vary in their use of risk/needs assessment instruments at intake.

Diversion
Intake workers or probation officers (depending on the county) in the probation department's assessment unit may recommend to the district attorney that a juvenile be diverted and placed under informal supervision. Juveniles who voluntarily admit to being delinquent may consent to being placed on informal supervision. If any of the acts would constitute a gross misdemeanor or felony if committed by an adult, the district attorney must approve of this arrangement in writing. The period of informal supervision must not exceed 180 days.

Informal supervision may include community service, restitution, and a cognitive training and human development program that teaches skills, such as problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution, and anger management.

Clark, Washoe, and a number of rural counties run their own diversion programs.

Predisposition Investigation
Juvenile probation officers perform predisposition investigations. The Nevada Association of Juvenile Justice Administrators developed an instrument containing standardized risk indicators and suggested dispositions, but its use is voluntary and assessment practices vary across the state. The Washoe County Department of Juvenile Services uses a modified version of this instrument to make intake decisions and determine appropriate dispositions, such as diversion, probation, or commitment.

Administrators from Spring Mountain Youth Camp, Nevada Youth Correctional Services, and Clark County IMPACCT (Intensive Monitoring Program and Community Corrections Team) program established the Screening Committee. The Committee reviews all cases recommended by Clark County probation officers for state commitment, county youth camp placement, and referrals to IMPACCT before court proceedings.

Victim Rights and Services
The Nevada Revised Statutes for Victims of Crime (NRS 217) applies to victims of juvenile offenders under NRS 62. Victims of juvenile offenders have the right to present an oral impact statement at disposition, be informed of the disposition of the case, receive restitution, and know if the offender was committed and the location of that placement, and be informed of the release date.

The Nevada Victims of Crime Program, within the Department of Administration, administers crime victim compensation. Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services established a Victim Assistance Program.

Probation Supervision
District courts administer probation services, except in Clark County where the county executive administers probation. Each probation department has standard conditions for probation that a court order can enhance. Some counties require juvenile probation officers to develop specific supervision plans in addition to the court's terms.

The judicial districts offer a range of specialized probation services, including intensive supervision, aftercare, substance abuse education programs, and sex offender specific caseloads. In addition, Clark County's Department of Juvenile Justice Services has a truancy intervention program that assigns specific staff to specific schools. Clark and Washoe Counties use Probation Community Placement instruments and, with Churchill County, use risk and needs assessments to make community placement decisions. A.C.R. 13, the Legislative Commission’s Subcommittee to Study the System of Juvenile Justice in Nevada, recommended the implementation of Probation Community Placement instruments statewide.

The state assists probation departments through a variety of state and federal pass-through grants. The state has adopted the Balanced Approach as its guiding philosophy for juvenile probation in its mission statement. The Nevada Association of Juvenile Justice Administrators developed voluntary state standards and recommends the American Probation and Parole Association's caseload standard of 35:1 on standard probation.

Juvenile Probation Officer Qualifications, Certification, and Training
Each judicial district determines the employment qualifications for its juvenile probation officers. The Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission, a cabinet-level commission, certifies probation officers. Certification is a requirement for employment. Probation officers must complete 8 weeks at the POST academy during their first year of employment and 24 hours of continuing education each following year.

Juvenile Corrections Continuum
Youth Correctional Services, Division of Child and Family Services, Department of Human Resources administers Nevada's three state delinquency institutions. The Caliente Youth Center (co-educational) and the Nevada Youth Training Facility in Elko (for males) are staff-secure. The Summit View Youth Correctional Center is Nevada's first maximum-security juvenile facility.

The state also runs the Desert Willow Treatment Center, a juvenile sex offender/mental health facility.

Commitment to State
The court orders adjudicated delinquents to indeterminate periods of commitment. The Nevada Division of Child and Family Services gains custody of the juvenile and makes placement decisions. Youth parole counselors supervise juveniles while they are in state custody.

The Nevada Association of Juvenile Justice Administrators' standardized instrument guides staff in recommending appropriate levels of correctional care. Youth facilities use the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI) and the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) as part of the institutional treatment plan that is developed for each juvenile. The Transitional Community Reintegration program (TCRP) provides initial assessments for newly committed delinquent youth. Statute requires screening each juvenile who is adjudicated delinquent and committed by the juvenile court for mental health and substance abuse problems.

Blended Sentencing
Nevada does not have blended sentencing provisions.

Direct Placement
Courts can place a juvenile in a local or private placement without committing the juvenile to the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services. Almost all private placements are in Clark and Washoe counties with a few available in rural areas. Placement stays can be indeterminate, but are often limited by budgets. County probation officers supervise youth in placement and provide aftercare supervision upon release.

The state's two county-run youth camps are Spring Mountain Youth Camp, located in Clark County, and China Spring Youth Camp, located in Douglas.

Release
A clinical team made up of mental health professionals, correctional staff, parole officers and school personnel conduct clinical team reviews for all youths who are close to completing their commitment. The team provides a recommendation to the superintendents of the State Youth Training Centers to make release decisions.

Aftercare/Re-entry
Youth Correctional Services, Division of Child and Family Services, Department of Human Resources administers aftercare services for youth returning from state commitment through its Youth Parole Bureau. The Youth Parole Bureau provides aftercare services to youth released from the Nevada Youth Training Center at Elko, the Caliente Youth Center in Caliente, and youth committed to Division of Child and Family Services custody at the China Spring Youth Camp in Minden. The Youth Parole Bureau is not a parole board. The bureau provides a range of services, including alternative placement, specialized treatment, intensive aftercare, drug education and counseling, transitional community integration, and drug testing. The bureau operates six offices statewide and employs youth parole counselors.

At the time of commitment, youth are assigned youth parole counselors who work with the juvenile and institutional staff to identify and implement an appropriate treatment plan to facilitate a successful return to the community. In 1997, Youth Correctional Services implemented the commitment assessment and classification process in which parole and mental health counselors conduct assessments to inform treatment services and parole case plans.

After China Springs, some youth are placed on state parole and others go on county probation, depending on jurisdiction. Youth parole workers with the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services supervise offenders leaving institutions in that county.

The Transitional Community Reintegration program (TCRP) provides initial assessments for newly committed delinquent youth, transitional placements for youth returning from correctional facilities, placements for youth in lieu of revocation, and day programming. TCRP monies have been used to fund programs for youth parolees in southern Nevada such as Rite of Passage which provides day treatment, Westcare provides gender specific programming for adolescent female offenders and Center for Independent Living provides residential and life skills training for youth moving into adulthood.

State Laws

Legal Resources
Title 5 - Procedure in Juvenile Cases, Chapter 62 - Juvenile Courts

State Bar of Nevada

Purpose Clauses
To read Nevada's purpose clause for delinquency proceedings and juvenile corrections, click here.

Delinquency Jurisdiction (as of the end of the 2005 legislative session)
Lower Age: None specified
Upper Age: 17
Extended Age of Delinquency Jurisdiction: 20

Juvenile Transfer Laws
For information on Nevada's juvenile transfer laws, click here.

Juvenile Justice Leadership

Department of Human Resources, Division of Child and Family Services
The Division of Child and Family Services convenes the Nevada Juvenile Justice Commission, the State Advisory Group charged with administering funds received through the federal Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and monitoring compliance with the Act's mandates.

Silver State Detention Association
In 1998, juvenile detention directors and probation chiefs formed this association to promulgate and implement detention standards throughout the state, improve conditions and resources for county detention facilities, and enhance training opportunities for detention staff.

Nevada Correctional Association

Nevada Association of Juvenile Justice Administrators

Resources/Contacts
Caliente Youth Center
Juvenile Justice Services, Division of Child and Family Services, Department of Human Resources
Nevada Juvenile Justice Commission
Nevada Supreme Court
Nevada Victims of Crime Program
State Bar of Nevada

Pauline Salla
Juvenile Justice Specialist
Division of Child and Family Services
4126 Technology Way - 3rd Floor
Carson City, NV 89706
Phone: (775) 623-6555
psalla@dcfs.state.nv.us

The National Center for Juvenile Justice strives to make each State Profile as accurate as possible. Please bring any errors, updates, or additions to the attention of the State Profiles project manager. Persons listed as state contacts are not responsible for information contained in these profiles.

© 2000 (original copyright); © 2006 (most recent copyright) National Center for Juvenile Justice

Citation: National Center for Juvenile Justice. 2006. "Nevada." State Juvenile Justice Profiles. Pittsburgh, PA: NCJJ. Online. Available: http://www.ncjj.org/stateprofiles/.