Juvenile Court

The Floyd County Juvenile Court is located on the 2nd floor of the Floyd County Courthouse/Judicial Center. The Juvenile Court handles children under the age of seventeen (17) who have been charged with a delinquent offense, sixteen (16) and under who have been charged with a traffic offense, and under the age of eighteen (18) who have deemed to be a dependent child or Children In Need Of Services (CHINS). The Juvenile Court also handles emancipation, parental notification of abortion, mental competency, and transfers from Superior Court. 

A delinquent offense is any offense that an adult could be charged with such as shoplifting, burglary, criminal trespass, etc. CHINS are children charged with offenses such as truancy, runaway, violation of curfew, possession of alcohol, or being habitually ungovernable. A dependent child is a child whose parent/guardian(s) have caused some type of neglect, abandonment, or either physical or sexual abuse. The dependent child and the CHINS child will have an attorney Guardian Ad Litem appointed to protect their best interests during the Court process. Many dependent children will also have a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) appointed as well. All delinquent children are appointed an attorney from the Public Defenders' Office.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW:

The Public Defender’s office represents parents who are indigent and cannot afford to hire legal counsel. An application for a Public Defender needs to be done several days prior to the court hearing if possible. This can be done at the Juvenile Court offices. The Public Defenders Office is located on the ground level of the Administrative Building on East Fourth Avenue.

All juveniles charged with a traffic offense must appear before the Juvenile Court Judge with a parent. They cannot pay the fine prior to a court date. The fine must be paid in cash.