Memphis attorney Vincent Perryman discusses Juvenile Court

Memphis Lawyer Vincent Perryman discusses The Shelby County Juvenile Court with guest Thomas Coupe. This Juvenile Court is one of the oldest and largest Juvenile Courts in the country. They discuss the various types of cases that The Shelby County Juvenile Court handles.

Types of cases include:

• child support
• juvenile delinquency
• child abuse and neglect cases

The Shelby County Juvenile Court works closely with The Department of Children's Services to resolve these issues. There are different courses of action that may be taken in civil or criminal cases involving minors. If the party is found guilty of a delinquent crime, one of several actions may be taken to resolve the situation.

Such actions could include:

• returning the minor to their home
• placing them on probation
• using a GPS system to track their location
• placing them in the custody of The Department of Children's Services

More serious cases can warrant a minor being put on trial in adult court. While extreme punishment can be used, it is not the goal of The Shelby County Juvenile Court. Instead, they aim to rehabilitate troubled minors in Memphis and Shelby County to prevent them from becoming adult criminals.

Shelby County Department of Children's Services can get involved in helping youths prior to their entanglement with Juvenile Court.  An example could be a grandmother contacting Children's Services to have a complaint filed on their daughter or son concerning their grandchild. Neglect and abuse doesn't necessarily mean physically abusing a child, it might be a matter of children living in a home without basic needs such as heat & air conditioning. Other examples include when the parents aren't making their child go to school, when they aren't providing proper medical care, and they use violence in punishment. One of the benefits to The Shelby County Juvenile Court is that once a case is established, there is a good set of resources to help both the child and the parents. This ranges from attorneys to other resources that can help children and parents successfully resolve the issue to the best outcome.

Child support debates in Memphis can begin by a paternity petition where one parent believes that another individual is the actual biological parent. After paternity is established, visitation is usually the next step in the process. This could be the result of one parent denying the other the right to any visitation with the child or children in question. Next, the parent on the receiving end of child support might request a modification of child support due to the other parent not paying enough or having a change of employers. In the event that the parent ordered to pay child support doesn't pay, they may have to go back to court for contempt. Also, additional children being born can start the whole process over. In essence, The Shelby County Juvenile Court could have multiple cases being heard for the same child over the 18 years that they are a minor.