When a person under the age of 18 is accused of violating a law or ordinance in Michigan, jurisdiction is vested in the Family Division of Circuit Court under MCL 712A.2(a)(1). This framework, which replaced the former juvenile division of probate court effective January 1, 1998, gives the Family Division exclusive original jurisdiction over most juvenile delinquency matters. As the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Juvenile Justice Benchbook explains, the Family Division has the authority to handle everything from minor misdemeanor-equivalent conduct through serious specified juvenile violations, applying a framework that balances rehabilitation with accountability.

The Juvenile Code recognizes that not all cases are alike. A first-time offender accused of a minor property crime faces a fundamentally different procedural path than a fourteen-year-old charged with a specified juvenile violation that could trigger automatic waiver to adult court under MCL 712A.2(a)(1). Between these poles lies a spectrum of procedural options: informal consent calendar proceedings under MCL 712A.2f, formal calendar adjudication in Family Division, designated proceedings in which the court may impose an adult sentence, and automatic waiver proceedings in which the circuit court of general criminal jurisdiction presides from the outset. Each track carries distinct consequences for your child’s record, liberty, and future.

One of the most important protections Michigan law affords juvenile defendants is the right to counsel. MCL 712A.17c(1) and MCR 3.915(A)(1) guarantee a juvenile’s right to be advised of the right to counsel and the right against self-incrimination before formal calendar proceedings begin. The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Act further ensures that juveniles who cannot afford an attorney are provided one. Retaining private counsel, however, allows families to act earlier—before charges are formally filed, during the critical pretrial detention phase, and at every stage of the proceeding where strategic decisions can influence the outcome.

Attorney Maze’s approach to juvenile defense begins with a thorough review of the circumstances of the minor’s arrest, the sufficiency of the petition, any statements made during custodial interrogation, and the procedural track the prosecutor and court have selected. In appropriate cases, diversion to a consent calendar program can resolve a matter without a formal adjudication. In contested cases, Attorney Maze challenges the evidence at adjudicatory hearings applying the full protections of the Michigan Rules of Evidence and the Constitution. When a conviction or adjudication cannot be avoided, he advocates for the least restrictive disposition consistent with MCL 712A.1(1)(j) and the genuine best interests of the child.