## Facts

- J.D.G., a juvenile, pleaded guilty to first-degree rape of a child for sexually assaulting his sister, who was under age 12.
- The juvenile court entered a disposition under the Special Sex Offender Disposition Alternative (SSODA), which allowed the court to suspend a standard-range confinement term if the juvenile complied with treatment and supervision conditions.
- The court imposed a standard-range confinement term of 21 to 28 weeks, but suspended execution of that term on probationary conditions.
- SSODA conditions required J.D.G. to participate in sex-offender therapy for two years and to live at a children’s center as part of his treatment plan.
- Additional conditions included no possession or use of nonprescribed drugs, no unexcused absences from school, and continued residence at the children’s center.
- J.D.G. was also placed on community supervision for two years.
- J.D.G. was not kept at the children’s center 24 hours per day; he left the center daily to attend school.
- The placement at the children’s center was likely required because J.D.G. could not remain at home with the child victim, and legislative policy favored removing the perpetrator from the home rather than moving the victim.
- While on SSODA, J.D.G. committed multiple violations while away from the children’s center, including running away, missing school, shoplifting, and possessing nonprescribed drugs.
- The juvenile court revoked SSODA and executed the previously suspended standard-range confinement term.
- At disposition after revocation, the court credited J.D.G. with 49 days for time spent in detention, but denied his request for credit for roughly 18 months spent residing at the children’s center.
- J.D.G. appealed, arguing the 18 months at the children’s center should count as “confinement” and be credited against the executed confinement term.

## Issues

1. Whether a juvenile is entitled to credit against an executed standard-range confinement term, after SSODA revocation, for time spent living at a nonsecure children’s treatment center as a SSODA condition while also on community supervision.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals (Division One) affirmed.
- The court held that J.D.G.’s residence at the children’s center under SSODA was not “confinement” for juvenile sentence-credit purposes.
- The trial court properly awarded credit for the 49 days of detention and properly denied credit for the approximately 18 months spent at the children’s center.

## Legal Principles

- A juvenile is entitled to credit against a confinement term for time spent in detention or other custodial settings that qualify as “confinement,” not for nonsecure treatment or supervision in the community.
- Under Washington’s Juvenile Justice Act, “community supervision” is a disposition used when a juvenile is not committed to a secure institution and may involve community-based services and treatment.
- Whether a placement amounts to “confinement” depends on the level of restraint and custody; a required residence in a treatment program is not the same as secure detention when the juvenile has meaningful freedom of movement, such as leaving daily for school.
- When the record does not show that a treatment facility is a state institution or a state-contracted secure placement, and the juvenile is not held there around the clock, the placement is treated as noncustodial for sentence-credit purposes.

## Conclusion

State v. J.D.G. holds that a juvenile’s SSODA-required residence at a nonsecure children’s treatment center, combined with community supervision and the ability to leave for school and other activities, is not “confinement,” so the juvenile is not entitled to credit for that time when SSODA is revoked and the suspended standard-range confinement term is executed.


State v. J.D.G., 88 Wash. App. 1039, 1997 Wash. App. LEXIS 1935 (1997)