Somerset County has no juvenile detention center. None. A county with 21 municipalities, substantial prosecution resources, and Family Court judges hearing juvenile cases - but no facility to hold juvenile defendants. Since 1999, Somerset County has contracted with Middlesex County for detention beds. When a Somerset County juvenile needs secure confinement, they get transported to the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center on Apple Orchard Lane in North Brunswick. Different county. Different facility. Parents driving to a different county for visitation.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to explain how juvenile defense actually works in Somerset County - the detention transfer to Middlesex that separates juveniles from their families geographically, the Juvenile Conference Committees staffed by citizen volunteers who decide diversion outcomes, and the waiver process that can send 14-year-olds to adult court facing adult consequences. Todd Spodek has represented juveniles facing delinquency charges throughout New Jersey and understands that Somerset County presents a system thats simultaneously focused on rehabilitation and capable of severe consequences.
Here's the paradox that defines juvenile justice in Somerset County. The system is built around the "best interests of the child." Rehabilitation. Reform. Second chances. But that same system can sentence a juvenile to 20 years in JJC commitment. That same system can waive a 14-year-old to adult court where they face the same penalties as a 40-year-old defendant. The rehabilitation framework exists alongside the capacity for devastating consequences.
No Juvenile Detention Facility - The Middlesex Transfer
Heres the uncomfortable truth that most Somerset County families dont know until there facing it. Somerset County has juvenile court. Somerset County has Family Court judges. Somerset County has the Youth Services Commission co-chaired by a Superior Court judge. But Somerset County has no facility to actually detain juveniles. None. Since 1999, every juvenile requiring secure detention gets transferred to Middlesex County.
The Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center sits on Apple Orchard Lane, off Route 130 North in North Brunswick. When a Somerset County juvenile gets detained - either pending adjudication or as part of a 60-day sentence - they go to that facility. Not Somerset. Middlesex. The geographic disconnection is immediate. Your child is detained in a different county.
Think about what that means for families. Visitation requires traveling to North Brunswick. Communication goes through a different countys facility. Parents receive a "Detention Information Sheet" explaining visitation rules, phone calls, mail procedures, clothing requirements - all for a facility in Middlesex County. The Somerset County juvenile system dosent have its own secure housing.
Somerset County has contracted with Middlesex for juvenile detention beds since 1999. The transfer happens automatically when secure confinement is required. Understanding this geographic reality is essential for any family facing juvenile detention in Somerset County.
Diversion Before Court - JCCs and Stationhouse Adjustments
Heres the irony that shapes minor juvenile offenses in Somerset County. The decision about wheather your child gets prosecuted might be made by citizen volunteers, not attorneys. Juvenile Conference Committees - JCCs - are groups of trained local citizens who review delinquency complaints. They hold informal discussions with the parent, child, and the person who filed the complaint. They can impose conditions - curfews, counseling, community service, restitution. If conditions are met, the case gets dismissed. Volunteers deciding outcomes.
The system revelation here is that lawyers arent required at JCC hearings. The court explicitly states that "your child does not need a lawyer if the case is sent to a juvenile conference committee." Thats true from a legal requirement standpoint. But it dosent mean having representation is a bad idea. The JCC decision can determine wheather your child has a juvenile record or not.
Stationhouse adjustments offer even earlier intervention. Instead of signing a formal delinquency complaint, police can release the juvenile to a responsible parent with a warning. They can conduct an informal meeting with the juvenile and guardian to discuss the conduct. No formal charges. No court involvement. The matter resolved at the station level. This path exists - but it requires the police to exercise that discretion.
Intake Services Conferences work similarly to JCCs. Informal discussion. Conditions imposed. Case potentially dismissed. The diversion pathway is real. But diversion typically requires the juvenile to admit the underlying conduct. Theres no "innocent until proven guilty" in the diversion process - admission is usually required to participate.
Family Court Process - Rehabilitation or Incarceration
Heres the inversion that defines serious juvenile cases in Somerset County. The guiding principle is rehabilitation. The "best interests of the child." Reform. Second chances. But the actual dispositions available include removing a child from their home permanently. The rehabilitation framework can result in years of incarceration.
Probation is the most common disposition. A juvenile can be placed on probation for up to three years. Three years of supervision. Three years of conditions - possibly including counseling, community service, curfews, drug testing. Violation of probation can escalate to commitment. What starts as rehabilitation can become incarceration through violation.
The more severe disposition is commitment to the Juvenile Justice Commission. The average commitment is two years. But sentences can range from 30 days to 20 years or more for serious offenses. "Short of waiving juveniles to the adult system, commitment to the JJC for incarceration is the most severe disposition available." Thats the language. Incarceration. Not rehabilitation language. Incarceration language.
Somerset County juvenile cases compete for judicial attention with two other counties. Vicinage XIII combines Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren counties. The same Family Court judges hear juvenile matters from all three counties. Your Somerset County juvenile case exists in a three-county queue. The scheduling and attention reflects that combined caseload.
Juvenile probation can last up to three years. JJC commitment averages two years but can exceed 20. The rehabilitation system has the capacity for serious consequences. Understanding those consequences before disposition is essential.
Waiver to Adult Court - When 14-Year-Olds Face Adult Consequences
Heres the uncomfortable truth that transforms juvenile cases entirely. Juveniles 14 years old and older can be waived to adult court. Once waived, they face the same penalties as adult defendants. The same sentencing ranges. The same prison exposure. The juvenile system protections disappear completely.
The offenses that trigger potential waiver include murder, sexual assault, robbery, carjacking, aggravated arson, kidnapping, and firearms offenses. The prosecutor files a waiver motion. The court considers factors - age, maturity, nature of the offense, prior history, substance abuse, mental health, prior response to rehabilitation, danger to the public. If waiver is granted, the 14-year-old becomes an adult defendant.
The consequence cascade from waiver is severe. Adult charges. Adult trial. Adult conviction. Adult prison - not JJC facility. Adult criminal record that follows permanently. The juvenile system's goal of rehabilitation ends completely upon waiver. The adult system's goal is punishment. The entire framework changes.
The U.S. Supreme Court has imposed some limits. Life without parole for juveniles tried as adults constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Death penalty for juveniles is unconstitutional - though New Jersey dosent have capital punishment anyway. But outside those limits, the waived juvenile faces full adult consequences.
Voluntary waiver exists too. A juvenile 14 or older can choose to be tried in adult court. Why would anyone do that? Sometimes the juvenile believes a jury will be more favorable then the juvenile court judge. Sometimes there strategic reasons. But voluntary waiver is rare. Most waivers are involuntary - prosecutor-initiated over the juveniles objection.
School Incidents - Police Notifications vs. Arrests
Heres the disconnect between perception and reality in Somerset County schools. Bridgewater-Raritan High School had 6 actual arrests during the 2022-23 school year. But it had 26 police notifications. Twenty-six incidents serious enough to notify police. Only 6 resulted in arrest. The gap between notification and arrest is massive.
Franklin High School shows similar patterns. One arrest. Twenty-nine police notifications. Violence: 4. Vandalism: 23. Drugs: 1. The incidents happen. The notifications happen. The arrests largely dont.
Why the gap? Recent changes to juvenile justice laws. School superintendents have explicitly stated that police no longer arrest students for fights or marijuana the way they used to. The law changed. The arrest rates dropped. The behavior didnt necessarily change - just the system response to it. School notification rates tell the real story of incident frequency.
The consequence cascade from school incidents can still be serious. Police notification. Investigation. Formal complaint filed. Juvenile court. Potential detention in Middlesex County. The path from school incident to juvenile record exists even if arrest rates have dropped. Notification creates the paper trail.
What Juvenile Defense in Somerset County Requires
Defending juvenile cases in Somerset County requires understanding both the rehabilitation framework and the serious consequences that framework can impose. Diversion through JCCs exists - but requires admission. Probation is common - but can last three years. Commitment averages two years - but can be twenty. Waiver transforms everything - 14-year-olds facing adult consequences.
At Spodek Law Group, we understand that Somerset County juvenile defense requires attention to the combined vicinage reality. Your childs case competes for judicial attention with Hunterdon and Warren counties. The same judges handle Franklin Township gang-related juvenile cases and rural Hunterdon matters. The system processes everything together.
Todd Spodek has represented juveniles in Somerset County who assumed the system was purely rehabilitative. It isnt. The rehabilitation language exists alongside the capacity for years of commitment. The "best interests of the child" framework exists alongside waiver to adult court. Understanding both sides of the system - the diversion opportunities and the severe consequences - is essential.
The gang connection requires careful evaluation. Franklin Township juvenile cases with gang involvement face potential federal exposure. The Bounty Hunter Bloods operate in Somerset County. Juvenile involvement can trigger federal investigation. The consequence cascade runs from juvenile arrest to potential adult federal charges through the gang connection.
If your child is facing juvenile charges in Somerset County, the time to get representation is now. Not after the JCC hearing where volunteers decide the outcome. Not after waiver to adult court. Now. Early intervention allows evaluation of diversion possibilities, assessment of waiver exposure, and understanding of the consequences before they become permanent.
Call Spodek Law Group at 888-997-5177. We handle juvenile matters in Somerset County and throughout New Jersey. The consultation is confidential. The advice is real. And in a county were juvenile detention means transfer to Middlesex and waiver means adult consequences for 14-year-olds, having representation that understands both the diversion opportunities and the severe exposure is exactly what seperates outcomes.
The Somerset County juvenile system will continue operating wheather you understand it or not. The JCCs will continue deciding diversion cases. The detention transfers to Middlesex will continue happening. The waiver motions will continue being filed. Your choice is wheather to face that system with representation that knows how juvenile prosecution actualy works - or without.
