California statute
Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 602
Current through 2025–2026 Regular Session (leginfo weekly dump, 2026-07-12)
Part of Article 14: Wards—Jurisdiction, California Welfare and Institutions Code.
Full text of Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 602
Statutory text current through the 2025–2026 Regular Session (leginfo weekly dump, 2026-07-12). This publication reproduces the official statutory text; it is not the official statutes of the State of California.
(a) Except as provided in Section 707, any minor who is between 12 years of age and 17 years of age, inclusive, when he or she violates any law of this state or of the United States or any ordinance of any city or county of this state defining crime other than an ordinance establishing a curfew based solely on age, is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court. (b) Any minor who is under 12 years of age when he or she is alleged to have committed any of the following offenses is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court: (1) Murder. (2) Rape by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury. (3) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury. (4) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury. (5) Sexual penetration by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
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