Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2016 (NCJ 252473) March 2019 Fact Sheet OJJDP National Report Series 4 page(s) Sarah Hockenberry This fact sheet presents national estimates of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 2016 and analyzes caseload trends since 2005. In 2016, juvenile courts in the United States handled 850,500 delinquency cases that involved juveniles charged with criminal law violations, 4 percent less than the number of cases handled in 2015. From 2005 through 2016, the number of delinquency cases declined 49 percent, with decreases experienced in all four offense categories: property offense cases (down 54 percent), public order offense cases (down 51 percent), person offense cases (down 44 percent), and drug law violation cases (down 42 percent). In 2016, property offense cases accounted for the largest proportion (33 percent) of the delinquency caseload, followed by person offense cases (29 percent), public order offense cases (25 percent). PDF