All proceedings seeking an adjudication that a child is a delinquent child, a child in need of supervision, a neglected child or an abused child shall be initiated by the filing of a petition. Upon authorization of the youth court, the petition shall be drafted and filed by the youth court prosecutor unless the youth court has designated some other person to draft and file the petition. The petition shall be filed within five (5) days from the date of a detention hearing or shelter hearing continuing custody. Unless another period of time is authorized by the youth court or its designee, in noncustody cases the petition shall be filed within ten (10) days of the court order authorizing the filing of a petition. The court may, in its discretion, dismiss the petition for failure to comply with the time schedule contained herein.
Miss. Code Ann. § 43-21-451
Commencement of formal proceedings
Known as the Youth Court Law
The act spans §§ 43–43 (102 sections).
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case In Re SAM (2002)
Most recently applied in The Interest of S.A.M. (September 2002)
Laws, 1979, ch. 506, § 48; Laws, 1980, ch. 550, § 19; Laws, 1997, ch. 440, § 12, eff from and after July 1, 1997.
Current official text: Mississippi Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Mississippi statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.