Understanding Certification, Direct Filing, and the Stakes for Juveniles in Adult Court

How It Happens: Certification and Direct Filing

Nevada law permits certain minors to be prosecuted as adults under two primary legal mechanisms:

Certification
This process begins in juvenile court. A judge reviews the charges, the minor's history, and the perceived potential for rehabilitation. If the court determines that juvenile resources are inadequate, the case can be “certified” into the adult system.

Direct Filing
In cases involving especially serious offenses—such as murder, attempted murder, or certain sex or firearm-related felonies—the District Attorney can skip the juvenile court altogether and file charges directly in adult court. No hearing. No rehabilitation plan. Just an immediate plunge into the adult system.

What It Means for Your Child

Being certified or directly filed into adult court carries staggering consequences:

Adult sentencing: Your child faces the same punishment as any adult, including lengthy prison terms.
A permanent record: Adult felony convictions don't vanish at 18. They linger—on background checks, job applications, and college admissions.
Adult jails: Juveniles placed in adult detention face increased risks of assault, isolation, and long-term trauma.
Loss of safeguards: The protections afforded by juvenile court—privacy, rehabilitative focus, parental involvement—fade quickly once a case crosses the line into adult jurisdiction.

And perhaps the most sobering fact: once the State treats your child like an adult, so does the courtroom.

What Can Be Done

We fight certification. We challenge direct filing. We seek decertification and argue for return to the juvenile system.

We work with mental health experts, teachers, coaches, and counselors to build the case that your child is still developing, still redeemable, still human. That they are more than the worst mistake they've made.

But time is critical. The earlier we intervene, the better chance we have to keep the case in the right courtroom—or bring it back where it belongs.

Even if the case proceeds in adult court, we don't stop there. We attack the charges themselves. We negotiate resolutions. We pursue dismissals where possible. And we fight to ensure that the punishment fits not only the offense—but the age, context, and humanity of the accused.

A Note to Parents

You may feel overwhelmed, ashamed, or out of your depth. That's natural. But your child needs more than your love right now—they need your action.

If your child is being charged as an adult in Nevada:

Do not let them speak to police without an attorney.
Do not assume this is just a phase.
Do not wait.

At Liberators Criminal Defense, we don't just defend minors in the adult system—we fight to make the system remember they're still kids. And we do it with urgency, skill, and deep respect for the stakes.

Need help now? Call us immediately. Your child's future shouldn't be decided without a fight.