2011 Wyoming Statutes
TITLE 14 - CHILDREN
CHAPTER 6 - JUVENILES
14-6-201. Definitions; short title; statement of purpose and interpretation.

(a) As used in this act:

(i) "Adjudication" means a finding by the court or the jury, incorporated in a decree, as to the truth of the facts alleged in the petition;

(ii) "Adult" means an individual who has attained the age of majority;

(iii) "Child" means an individual who is under the age of majority;

(iv) Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 199, 3.

(v) "Clerk" means the clerk of a district court acting as the clerk of a juvenile court;

(vi) "Commissioner" means a district court commissioner;

(vii) "Court" means the juvenile court established by W.S. 5-8-101;

(viii) "Custodian" means a person, institution or agency responsible for the child's welfare and having legal custody of a child by court order or having actual physical custody and control of a child and acting in loco parentis;

(ix) "Delinquent act" means an act punishable as a criminal offense by the laws of this state or any political subdivision thereof, or contempt of court under W.S. 14-6-242, or an act violating the terms and conditions of any court order which resulted from the criminal conviction of any child but does not include a status offense;

(x) "Delinquent child" means a child who has committed a delinquent act;

(xi) "Deprivation of custody" means transfer of legal custody by the court from a parent or previous legal custodian to another person, agency, organization or institution;

(xii) "Detention" means the temporary care of a child in physically restricting facilities pending court disposition or the execution of a court order to place or commit a child to a juvenile detention facility;

(xiii) "Judge" means the judge of the juvenile court;

(xiv) "Legal custody" means as defined in W.S. 14-3-402(a)(x);

(xv) "Minor" means an individual who is under the age of majority;

(xvi) Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 199, 3.

(xvii) "Parent" means either a natural or adoptive parent of the child, a person adjudged the parent of the child in judicial proceedings or a man presumed to be the father under W.S. 14-2-504;

(xviii) "Parties" include the child, his parents, guardian or custodian, the state of Wyoming and any other person made a party by an order to appear, or named by the juvenile court;

(xix) "Probation" means a legal status created by court order following an adjudication of delinquency or of a status offense where a child is permitted to remain in his home subject to supervision by a city or county probation officer, the department or other qualified private organization the court may designate. A child is subject to return to the court for violation of the terms or conditions of probation provided for in the court order;

(xx) Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 199, 3.

(xxi) "Residual parental rights and duties" means those rights and duties remaining with the parents after custody, guardianship of the person or both have been vested in another person, agency or institution. Residual parental rights and duties include but are not limited to:

(A) The duty to support and provide necessities of life;

(B) The right to consent to adoption;

(C) The right to reasonable visitation unless restricted or prohibited by court order;

(D) The right to determine the minor's religious affiliation; and

(E) The right to petition on behalf of the minor.

(xxii) "Shelter care" means the temporary care of a child in physically unrestricting facilities pending court disposition or execution of a court order for placement or commitment;

(xxiii) "Status offense" means an offense which, if committed by an adult, would not constitute an act punishable as a criminal offense by the laws of this state or a violation of a municipal ordinance, but does not include a violation of W.S. 12-6-101(b) or (c) or any similar municipal ordinance;

(xxiv) "Juvenile detention facility" means any facility which may legally and physically restrict and house a child, other than the Wyoming boys' school, the Wyoming girls' school, the Wyoming state hospital or other private or public psychiatric facility within the state of Wyoming. A juvenile detention facility may be housed within an adult jail or correction facility if the facility otherwise meets the requirements of state law;

(xxv) "Department" means the Wyoming department of family services;

(xxvi) "This act" means W.S. 14-6-201 through 14-6-252.

(b) This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Juvenile Justice Act".

(c) This act shall be construed to effectuate the following public purposes:

(i) To provide for the best interests of the child and the protection of the public and public safety;

(ii) Consistent with the best interests of the child and the protection of the public and public safety:

(A) To promote the concept of punishment for criminal acts while recognizing and distinguishing the behavior of children who have been victimized or have disabilities, such as serious mental illness that requires treatment or children with a cognitive impairment that requires services;

(B) To remove, where appropriate, the taint of criminality from children committing certain unlawful acts; and

(C) To provide treatment, training and rehabilitation that emphasizes the accountability and responsibility of both the parent and the child for the child's conduct, reduces recidivism and helps children to become functioning and contributing adults.

(iii) To provide for the care, the protection and the wholesome moral, mental and physical development of children within the community whenever possible using the least restrictive and most appropriate interventions;

(iv) To be flexible and innovative and encourage coordination at the community level to reduce the commission of unlawful acts by children;

(v) To achieve the foregoing purposes in a family environment whenever possible, separating the child from the child's parents only when necessary for the child's welfare or in the interest of public safety and when a child is removed from the child's family, to ensure that individual needs will control placement and provide the child the care that should be provided by parents; and

(vi) To provide a simple judicial procedure through which the provisions of this act are executed and enforced and in which the parties are assured a fair and timely hearing and their constitutional and other legal rights recognized and enforced.