In re J.M.

Summary

The Utah Supreme Court held that the Juvenile Code does not prohibit a prosecutor from filing a delinquency petition after a juvenile probation officer has improperly offered a nonjudicial adjustment on a referral that objectively involves a felony; eligibility for a nonjudicial adjustment turns on an objective inquiry into whether the conduct involves a disqualifying offense, not on the offense identified in the referral or the probation officer's preliminary assessment. Because J.M. challenged only the prosecutor's authority to file after she accepted and substantially complied with the adjustment agreement, and not the prosecutor's characterization of the offenses as felonies, the court affirmed the denial of her motion to dismiss. Chief Justice Durrant, joined by Associate Chief Justice Pohlman, dissented, contending that the statutes give prosecutors only fettered discretion keyed to the referral document and would have reversed.