State v. Turner

These consolidated cases present the issue of whether a recent amendment to Washington's compulsory school attendance law (Laws of 1979, 1st Ex. Sess., ch. 201) reinvested the juvenile courts with jurisdiction over school truants such as appellants. The court below ruled that it had such jurisdiction, fined appellants, and later held them in contempt for failure to comply with a corresponding court order that they return to school. We reverse, holding that a juvenile court has no jurisdiction over school truants beyond that which it has over any juvenile under the child dependency laws (RCW…