Page 40 - Juvenile Practice is not Child's Play

Hearings

Detention Hearings

A child may be detained in a short-term holding facility to endure the child’s appearance in court or if the child poses a

danger. In detention, your child should be locked up with other kids and not with adults. You can probably get your
client moved if they are being held with adults.

Youth are frequently detained for reasons that seem acceptable but are in fact contrary to law or professional standards.
The police or probation may not detain your client to “teach them a lesson”, “for their own good”, “in order to get a
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mental health assessment”, “to have more convenient administrative access to them” , and/or “to ask them more
questions.”

A detention hearing determines whether a child will remain in detention until the court hears the case; it is a cross
between a bail hearing and a probable cause hearing or examining trial. The hearing must be held on the second

working day after the youth’s detention, unless the youth is detained over a weekend, in which case, it must be held on
the first working day after detention. TFC § 54.01(a). Reasonable notice of the hearing must be given to the child and
their parents.

Detention hearings are usually held in person in front of the judge or referee. However, a video detention hearing is
permissible if the child and the child’s attorney agree to it and have the opportunity to cross=examine witnesses. Video
detention hearings are not beneficial for your client and you should try to avoid them. It is important for your client to

understand what is going on during all the proceedings, and a video detention hearing likely will be more confusing for
your client.

The child has a right to an attorney at the detention hearing, and if the family cannot afford an attorney, one must be
appointed at no cost. Due to the time constraints of detention hearings, the law allows for detention hearings to proceed

without counsel. If the attorney is appointed after an uncounseled detention hearing, then they may request a new
detention hearing, which must be held no later than the second day after the request. TFC § 54.01(n). Testimony by

the child at the hearing is not admissible at any other hearing. TFC § 54.01(g) but the substance of the testimony
may help the prosecutor develop inculpatory evidence.

39 https://info.nicic.gov/dtg/sites/info.nicic.gov.dtg/files/DesktopGuide.pdf