Hansen v. State

In Hansen v. State (Wyo. 1995) 904 P.2d 811, a statute gave concurrent jurisdiction to both juvenile and adult courts for certain crimes involving juveniles 14 years or older. The juvenile argued that granting the prosecutor the unguided discretion to file in either juvenile or adult court violated separation of powers principles. The court rejected that argument because the statutory scheme permitted the juvenile to seek, and the court to order, that a matter commenced in adult court be transferred back to juvenile court; accordingly, the prosecutor's filing decision placed no restrictions on the court's power to impose a juvenile court disposition. ( Id. at pp. 822-823.)