What authority does a juvenile referees have to find a juvenile in contempt and jail him for failure to attend school as ordered? None. 9-27-342 9-27-353

STATE OF ARKANSAS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL JUSTICE BUILDING, LITTLE ROCK 72201 STEVE CLARK (501) 371-2007 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 85-41 February 13, 1985 ee a Mr. Kim M. Smith Prosecuting Attorney Washington County Courthouse Annex Fayetteville, AR 72701-6192 RE: Juvenile in need of supervision/incarceration for contempt of court Dear Mr. Smith: You have requested an opinion of this office regarding the authority of the juvenile referee to jail a juvenile in need of supervision (JINS) for contempt of court for failure to attend school as ordered. Pursuant to the juvenile code and a prior opinion of this office, the juvenile court cannot jail a juvenile under these circumstances. : E You have correctly labeled the juvenile as one in need of supervision as defined in Ark. Stat. Ann. §45-403(3) (a) ‘ (Repl. 1977), and §45-603(3) (a) (Repl. 1977), because the original offense was failure to attend school. The disposi- tion alternatives for a JINS are found in Ark. Stat. Ann. | §45-436(3) (a) (i-v) (Cum. Supp. 1983). None of these pro- vides for a jail term. I refer you now to the former opinion issued by this office which I have enclosed. Even though that letter addresses ! questions of commitment to the Division of Youth Services, the discussion is equally applicable to the issue of jail 4 incarceration. In essence the opinion stated that once a juvenile is adjudicated to be a JINS, failure to obey the Court's order does not change his status. Therefore, he must still be dealt with as the Code provides for JINS. Note also that under §45-436(4)(e), if a juvenile violates his probation, the Court can only order "any other disposi-~ tion that would have been appropriate in the original dis- position of the case." As discussed above since the JINS Mr. Kim M. Smith Page 2 February 13, 1985 jail sentence initially, the court could not have received a the original JINS could not impose one for failure to obey order. The foregoing opinion which I hereby approve, was prepared by Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Dowling. Attofney General jsc:ED:dc Enclosure