Get Juvenile Supplement PDF - Rutherford County, Tennessee - Rutherfordcountytn

The Serial podcast series “The Kids of Rutherford County” begins with a hum. It's a low hum, sort of ominous, that lasts for two or three seconds before the podcast's host, Meribah Knight, comes in with, “It was a March afternoon in Rutherford County, Tennessee …”

A juvenile is any individual who is under the chronological age of eighteen years and has not been previously transferred to adult court. What is a Juvenile Offender? A Juvenile offender is any juvenile who has been found by the juvenile court to have committed a delinquent offense.

(WKRN) – Rutherford County is now the focus of a national podcast. “Serial” is reporting on hundreds, if not thousands, of kids who were wrongfully locked up at the Rutherford County Detention Center. A local radio reporter is partnering with The New York Times to tell the story.

For over a decade, one Tennessee county arrested and illegally jailed hundreds, maybe thousands, of children. A four-part narrative series reveals how this came to be, the adults responsible for it, and the two lawyers, former juvenile delinquents themselves, who try to do something about it.

In April 2016, 11 Black schoolchildren, some as young as 8 years old, were arrested in Rutherford County. The reason? They didn't stop a fight between some other kids. What happened in the wake of those arrests would expose a juvenile justice system that was playing by its own rules.

Many youth are placed on probation due to a status offense. If they violate the conditions of their probation (e.g. attending school, drug screens, curfew, etc.) they can be placed in the custody of DCS. A delinquent offense is an action that is a crime for all people.

The lawyers settle their case on behalf of the kids wrongfully arrested or illegally jailed by Rutherford County. The county ends its illegal detention policy, and some kids who were wronged by the system get paid. But none of the people behind the illegal policies face serious consequences.

The Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center and its staff provide for the care, safety, and protection of youth in an environment that fosters healthy social, emotional, and intellectual development, ensures secure and safe custody, and promotes the health and well being of the youth detained.