Section 23 Presence ofJuvenileOfficeratInterrogation

• Library: Juvenile Law 2011

The author recommends that any interrogation of a child about criminal activity be conducted by law enforcement officials rather than the juvenile officer or juvenile officer’s staff. But this does not mean that the juvenile officer and juvenile court authorities should exclude themselves from the interrogation process entirely. To the contrary, a series of cases, beginning with State v. Arbeiter, 408 S.W.2d 26 (Mo. 1966), has required juvenile officer involvement in police interrogations at the earliest possible moment. In Arbeiter, the Supreme Court considered § 211.061, now RSMo Supp. 2010, which requires that all children in police custody be taken directly to the juvenile court or the juvenile officer. The Court held that any juvenile...