In most states persons accused of violating the law before they are 18 years of age are under the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts, and persons accused of violating the law when they are 18 years of age or older are under the jurisdiction of the criminal courts. Some states begin prosecuting persons as adults in the criminal court system when they are 17 years of age, and some states begin prosecuting persons as adults in the criminal court system when they are 16 years of age.

But all states have transfer laws that permit or require criminal prosecution of some young offenders—even though they are still of juvenile age, as defined by the state’s laws. Transfer laws vary from state to state, but generally fall within three categories: (1) judicial waiver laws that allow juvenile courts to waive jurisdiction on a case-by-case basis; (2) prosecutorial discretion or concurrent jurisdiction laws that define a class of cases that may be brought in juvenile court or in criminal court—usually at the discretion of the prosecutor; and (3) statutory exclusion laws that grant criminal courts exclusive jurisdiction over certain classes of cases involving juvenile-age offenders.

The laws that govern when a person of juvenile age may be prosecuted as an adult in the criminal court system are generally located in a state’s statutes.

In Florida, individuals who are accused of violating the law are typically under the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts if they are under 18 years of age. However, Florida law does provide mechanisms for transferring certain juvenile cases to adult criminal court. These mechanisms include judicial waiver, prosecutorial discretion, and statutory exclusion. Judicial waiver allows juvenile courts to waive their jurisdiction and transfer a juvenile case to adult court based on factors such as the severity of the offense, the juvenile's age, prior record, and the likelihood of rehabilitation within the juvenile system. Prosecutorial discretion or concurrent jurisdiction laws permit prosecutors to file charges in either juvenile or adult court for certain offenses, often depending on the age of the offender and the seriousness of the crime. Statutory exclusion laws in Florida mandate that certain offenses committed by juveniles of a specific age are automatically tried in adult court. These laws are designed to address situations where the juvenile's alleged offense is considered too serious to be handled within the juvenile justice system. The exact age and offenses that trigger these provisions can be found in Florida's state statutes.