Rule 3.931.Initiating Delinquency Proceedings

MCR 3.931 is the front door of a delinquency case. It fixes the form of the request, itemizes what the request must say, carves out an alternative for traffic matters, and adds a follow-up track for a juvenile who ignores a motor vehicle citation.

Commencement and the case inventory, under subrule (A)

Any request for court action against a juvenile must be by written petition. Form, captioning, signing, and verifying come from MCR 1.109(D) and (E). Subrule (A) then adds a coordination step: when any pending or resolved family division or tribal court case exists involving family members of a person named in the petition, the petitioner must complete and file a case inventory listing those cases, if known, on a form approved by the State Court Administrative Office.

That inventory is confidential. It is not subject to service requirements, and it is available only to the party that filed it, that party's attorney, the court, and the friend of the court. It is a map for the court, not a document the other side receives.

What the petition must contain, under subrule (B)

• the juvenile's name, address, and date of birth, if known;
• names and addresses, if known, of the mother and father, of any guardian, legal custodian, or person having custody other than a parent, and of the nearest known relative when no parent, guardian, or legal custodian can be found;
• the juvenile's membership or eligibility for membership in an Indian tribe, if any, and the identity of that tribe;
• allegations sufficient, if true, to constitute an offense by the juvenile;
• a citation to the section of the Juvenile Code relied on for jurisdiction and to the federal, state, or local law or ordinance allegedly violated;
• the court action requested; and
• where it applies, the notice required by MCL 257.732(8) and the juvenile's Michigan driver's license number.

Citation or appearance ticket, under subrule (C)

A citation or appearance ticket may start a delinquency proceeding when the charges are limited to violations of the Michigan Vehicle Code or of a substantially corresponding ordinance provision, as provided by MCL 712A.2b. The court treats the citation as if it were a petition with one exception that carries weight: it may not serve as a basis for pretrial detention.

Failure to appear on a vehicle matter, under subrule (D)

If a Michigan resident juvenile fails to appear or otherwise respond to a pending motor vehicle matter, the court must initiate the procedure required by MCL 257.321a for failure to answer a citation, and it may issue an order to apprehend the juvenile after a petition is filed with the court. The apprehension option follows the petition; it does not run off the citation alone.