Kids Count Data Center

Definitions: These figures represents the number of youth under eighteen years of age who are referred to the Unified Judicial System (UJS) by the states attorneys. Juvenile informational complaints may be filed with the states attorney by law enforcement officials, parents, court services officers (alleged probation violations), and others. The states attorney may decide to file a formal petition, refer the case to a court services department for a 90-day informal adjustment, refer the case to a private agency approved by the court, or take no action. Numbers are for the county in which apprehension took place and represent the number of cases rather than individuals. In other words, if a child was referred to UJS for several different offenses, he or she would be counted several different times.

Data Source: Court Services Department of the South Dakota Unified Judicial System - http://www.sdjudicial.com/ Data are for State Fiscal Year.

Footnotes: Adjudicate is to file a formal petition, i.e. the case goes to court. Non-adjudicated means to refer the case to a court services department for a 90-day action (informal adjustment, i.e. refer the case to a private agency approved by the court, for example, alcohol treatment facility or program).

Updated February 14, 2013.