Riverside Juvenile Court
Court Guide

No. Juvenile delinquency does not use the adult bail schedule. There is no bond to post and no bail amount to match. Whether a minor stays in juvenile hall or goes home to a parent or guardian is decided by the judge at a detention hearing, usually within a few court days of the referral.

9991 County Farm Road, Riverside, several miles west of the downtown Main Street courthouses. The court lists it open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with clerk's office phone hours from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Parking is free and unmetered in the lots in front of the building and elsewhere in the Juvenile Court complex, with six handicapped spaces at the entrance.

Delinquency is where a minor is alleged to have committed an offense. Dependency is where the question is whether a child is safe at home — abuse, neglect, and foster placement matters. Both are heard at this location, in Departments J1 through J4, under a legal framework separate from adult criminal court.

Legally they are separate proceedings in separate buildings, but they collide constantly in practice. A parent in custody at the Robert Presley Detention Center cannot attend a detention or dependency hearing here, and a parent's absence carries weight in a dependency case. Getting the adult out on bond is often the only way to be in the room.

Generally no. Juvenile proceedings are treated as confidential, which is a real difference from adult criminal court, where hearings and case files are ordinarily open. Expect access to be limited to parties, counsel, and people the court permits.