Does the Penal Code provide a specific age for when a person can be prosecuted?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It depends on the offense
• D. The age is fixed at 18 in all cases

Answer: (B)

Age of criminal responsibility is not fixed at one number across all crimes. The Penal Code does not set a single universal age at which someone can be prosecuted. Instead, the applicable age depends on the offense and on whether the person is treated as a juvenile or an adult under the jurisdiction’s juvenile justice framework. Some offenses may have a minimum age to be charged, others may allow processing youths in juvenile court or even charging older youths as adults under specific circumstances. Because of this variability, there isn’t a single specific age that applies in every case, so the statement is false.