{"data":{"id":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-15-11-580","jurisdiction":"us-ga","citation":"O.C.G.A. § 15-11-580","heading":"Admission or denial of the allegations of a petition.","body":"(a) At the commencement of the adjudication hearing, the court shall address the alleged delinquent child, in language understandable to the child, and determine whether such child is capable of understanding statements about his or her rights under this article.\n(b) If a child is capable, the court shall inquire how he or she responds to the allegations of the delinquency petition. The child may:\n(1) Deny the allegations of such petition, in which case the court shall proceed to hear evidence on such petition; or\n(2) Admit the allegations of such petition, in which case the court shall further inquire to determine whether there is a factual basis for adjudication. If so, the court may then adjudge such child to have committed a delinquent act.\n(c) If a child stands mute, refuses to answer, or answers evasively, the court shall enter a denial of the allegations.","path":["TITLE 15 Courts","CHAPTER 11 Juvenile Code","Article 6 Delinquency","PART 10 Adjudication"],"source_url":"https://archive.org/download/gov.ga.ocga.2018/release86.2022.11/gov.ga.ocga.title.15.odt","current_through":"Release 86 (2022-11)","vintage":"Public.Resource.Org bulk O.C.G.A., Release 86 (2022-11), retrieved 2026-09-17","retrieved_at":"2026-09-17T19:34:57Z","sha256":"d04ff5d8115415fec04f0df4642b64328d56ff58855148331bee1809b4f36076","source_id":"us-ga","stale":false,"prev":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-15-11-567","next":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-15-11-581"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}