Juvenile Matters
A separate court system with its own statute, vocabulary, and stakes.
Ohio juvenile court is created by Revised Code Chapter 2151 and exercises exclusive original jurisdiction over almost any case involving a child — delinquency, unruly, dependency, neglect, abuse, traffic, and most paternity, custody, and support matters where the parents were not married. It is a court of equity, designed historically to rehabilitate rather than punish, but the practical consequences of an adjudication can follow a young person for years.
The proceedings move quickly. The vocabulary is different — a juvenile is “adjudicated,” not convicted; the court enters a “disposition,” not a sentence. The differences matter, because confusing one system's rules for the other's is exactly how families end up with worse outcomes than the facts deserved.
Ryan handles juvenile court matters routinely, in Franklin County and across central Ohio.
The juvenile-court equivalent of a criminal case — with consequences that can last.
A delinquency complaint alleges that a child under eighteen committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult. The juvenile is entitled to most of the same constitutional protections as an adult criminal defendant — the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, the right against self-incrimination, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt — but the procedure and the available dispositions are different.
Dispositions can range from a warning and community service, through probation, electronic monitoring, and placement at a community-based facility, up to commitment to the Ohio Department of Youth Services on more serious felony-level offenses. An adjudication is not a criminal conviction, but it can affect school enrollment, future employment, military service, and immigration status — and certain offenses can also result in mandatory sex-offender registration.
Ryan brings the same preparation to a juvenile delinquency case that he would to an adult criminal matter, because the stakes warrant it.
The thresholds Ohio juvenile law actually uses.
The figures and statutes every Franklin County juvenile case is built on.
Juvenile court has jurisdiction over acts committed by a child under the age of eighteen at the time of the offense.
Children fourteen and older can, in certain cases, be transferred to adult court for trial on felony charges.
Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds face mandatory transfer for certain category-one and category-two offenses.
Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2151 sets the framework for juvenile jurisdiction, procedure, and disposition.
Conduct that is only an offense because the child is a child.
Unruly cases — truancy, curfew violations, habitual disobedience of parents, running away — are status offenses: conduct that is only unlawful because of the actor's age. They typically begin with a school or parent referral and proceed through informal services before any formal adjudication is sought, but they can escalate into full court proceedings if the underlying behavior continues.
The dispositional toolkit on the unruly side is wide: community-based services, family counseling, school-attendance plans, probation, and in serious cases out-of-home placement. The goal is to address what is driving the behavior before it crosses into delinquency territory. Ryan helps families navigate that process without losing decision-making authority over their child.
When the agency files, the clock starts running.
Dependency, neglect, and abuse cases are filed by Franklin County Children Services or a comparable agency, and they put parental rights directly at stake. From the moment the complaint is filed, there are statutory deadlines for shelter-care hearings, adjudication, disposition, and — if the agency seeks it — permanent custody. A case plan is developed, and the parents' compliance with that plan is what the court will return to at every review.
These cases are emotionally and procedurally heavy, and the stakes — including the possibility of permanent termination of parental rights — are about as serious as any in family law. Ryan represents parents in these proceedings with the urgency and preparation the timelines demand.
If your child has a court date, talk to Ryan first.
The choices made at the first hearing — and even before — often determine how the case ends. A confidential conversation can tell you what to expect and what to do next.
A traffic ticket can be more than a fine when the driver is sixteen.
Juvenile court handles traffic offenses committed by drivers under eighteen, including OVI and physical-control charges. The procedural posture is different from adult traffic court, and the dispositions can include license suspensions, mandatory programs, and probation — on top of the consequences that follow into adult driving privileges.
Family-law situations sometimes give rise to these charges — a teenager who takes a parent's car after an argument, a minor caught drinking at a family event, an incident at a custody exchange. Ryan handles those matters as part of the broader picture, so one attorney is coordinating across whatever pieces of the family's case are in motion.
The single most consequential motion a juvenile case can face.
Ohio law permits — and in certain cases requires — the transfer of older juveniles to adult court for trial on serious felony charges. Discretionary bindover is available for children fourteen and older on a wide range of felony offenses, and turns on whether the child is amenable to rehabilitation within the juvenile system. Mandatory bindover applies to certain category-one and category-two offenses involving juveniles sixteen and older, and removes the juvenile court's discretion entirely.
A bindover decision can change the rest of a young person's life. The amenability hearing — where the discretionary determination is made — is its own evidentiary proceeding with expert testimony, social history, and statutory factors that have to be carefully developed. Ryan handles these hearings with the seriousness they deserve.
What to expect from intake through disposition.
Juvenile court moves on its own timeline, but most cases in Franklin County follow a recognizable sequence.
Intake & Detention
After arrest or citation, intake screens the case. If the child is held, a detention hearing follows within 72 hours.
Arraignment & Pretrial
Charges are formally read, counsel is appointed or retained, and pretrial conferences set the case's direction.
Adjudication
The juvenile equivalent of a trial. The state must prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt before the court can adjudicate.
Disposition & Review
If adjudicated, the court enters disposition — probation, placement, services — and the case stays under judicial review.
One attorney. Every call, every hearing, every document.
Ryan opened his Columbus practice in 1997 and has represented young people and their families in juvenile courts across Franklin, Delaware, Fairfield, Licking, Madison, Pickaway, and Union counties ever since. There is no associate who takes over after the first meeting and no paralegal speaking on his behalf. When you call the office, you reach Ryan.
Juvenile cases need continuity. The attorney who hears the family's story is the same attorney who stands beside the child at the bench, negotiates with the prosecutor, and follows through on every review hearing until the case is closed.