Opinion No. Oag 16-90, (1990)

MARK JANIUK, Corporation Counsel, Racine County

You have asked for my opinion as to the authority of circuit courts, under the jurisdiction conferred by section 48.17, Stats., to sentence a juvenile sixteen years of age or older to a county jail for a violation of a traffic statute. As a corollary question, you inquire whether juveniles sentenced by a circuit court for a traffic violation can be placed in the adult section of the county jail or whether they must be held in segregated facilities?

Section 48.12 (1) grants exclusive jurisdiction to the juvenile courts of any child over twelve…