2.2Jurisdiction Over Juveniles Accused of Committing a Criminal Traffic Violation
The family division of the circuit court has “[e]xclusive original jurisdiction superior to and regardless of the jurisdiction of another court in proceedings concerning a juvenile under 18 years of age who[,] . . . [e]xcept as otherwise provided in [MCL 712A.2(a)(1)], . . . has violated any municipal ordinance or law of the state or of the United States.” MCL 712A.2(a)(1). As used in subchapter 3.900 of the Michigan Court Rules (governing practice and procedure in cases filed under the Juvenile Code), a “[d]elinquency proceeding” is “a proceeding concerning an offense by a juvenile, as defined in MCR 3.903(B)(3).” MCR 3.903(A)(5). MCR 3.903(B)(3), in turn, defines “[o]ffense by a juvenile” as “an act that violates a criminal statute, a criminal ordinance, a traffic law, or a provision of MCL 712A.2(a) [(governing violations of law or ordinance, civil infractions, and status offenses)] or [MCL 712A.2(d) (governing wayward minors)].” (Emphasis supplied.)
District court or municipal court judges may be assigned to sit as family division judges to hear matters involving juveniles. See MCL 600.1517; MCL 600.225; MCR 8.110(C)(3)(g).
“If the juvenile attains his or her eighteenth birthday after the filing of the petition, the court’s jurisdiction shall continue beyond the juvenile’s eighteenth birthday and the court may hear and dispose of the petition under [the Juvenile Code].” MCL 712A.11(4).
The “birthday rule” applies in Michigan for purposes of age calculation. People v Woolfolk, 304 Mich App 450, 504 (2014), aff’d 497 Mich 23 (2014). Under the birthday rule, “a person attains a given age on the anniversary date of his or her birth.” Id. at 464 (quotation and citation omitted).