Arrests

When your child is arrested, he or she is first taken to Juvenile Processing Center at 5000 Hayes Street before being taken to the Court Social Services Division (Juvenile Probation) at the Youth Services Center (YSC) for screening and interviewing by a juvenile probation officer. The Youth Service Center is located at 1000 Mount Olivet Road, Northeast.

If your child is assessed as eligible for release from YSC you will be required to come to YSC to receive your child. If he or she is not released, they will be transported to the Moultrie Courthouse the following morning (except for Sundays) for an initial hearing before a judge. The Courthouse is located at 500 Indiana Avenue, NW.

A Juvenile Probation Officer located in Room JM-620 of the Courthouse will meet with the parent/guardian, screen the case or review the screening done the night before. Please be patient as the process may seem redundant. This is to ensure the information is accurate, and probation officers submit appropriate recommendations to be presented at the initial hearing before the judge. Once you have completed the screening process, an attorney will be assigned to your child if you cannot afford one. He or she will represent your child throughout the case.

The initial hearing is your child’s first appearance before a judge to determine detention or release and, if he or she is released, you will receive a court order with the rules he or she must follow. Your child will be assigned to probation officer with-in 72 hours, contacted and informed of where your child’s probation officer is located in the community.

Initial hearings are held every day except Sundays in courtroom JM-15 located on the JM level of the Moultrie Courthouse.