Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 54 — CRIMINAL PROCEDURE · Chapter 960a — Youthful Offenders
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 54-76j (2026)

Disposition upon adjudication as youthful offender

✓ current as of May 2026
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(a) The court, upon the adjudication of any person as a youthful offender, may: (1) Commit the defendant; (2) impose a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars; (3) impose a sentence of conditional discharge or a sentence of unconditional discharge; (4) impose a sentence of community service; (5) impose a sentence to a term of imprisonment not greater than that authorized for the crime committed by the defendant, but in no event shall any such term exceed four years; (6) impose sentence and suspend the execution of the sentence, entirely or after a period set by the court; (7) order treatment pursuant to section 17a-699; or (8) if a criminal docket for drug-dependent persons has been established pursuant to section 51-181b in the judicial district in which the defendant was adjudicated a youthful offender, transfer the supervision of the defendant to the court handling such docket.

(b) If execution of the sentence is suspended under subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of this section, the defendant may be placed on probation or conditional discharge for a period not to exceed three years, provided, at any time during the period of probation, after hearing and for good cause shown, the court may extend the period as deemed appropriate by the court. If the court places the person adjudicated to be a youthful offender on probation, the court may order that, as a condition of such probation, the person be referred for services to a youth service bureau established pursuant to section 10-19m, provided the court finds, through an assessment by a youth service bureau or its designee, that the person is in need of and likely to benefit from such services. If the court places a youthful offender on probation, school and class attendance on a regular basis and satisfactory compliance with school policies on student conduct and discipline may be a condition of such probation and, in such a case, failure to so attend or comply shall be a violation of probation. If the court has reason to believe that the person adjudicated to be a youthful offender is or has been an unlawful user of narcotic drugs, as defined in section 21a-240, and the court places such youthful offender on probation, the conditions of probation, among other things, shall include a requirement that such person shall submit to periodic tests to determine, by the use of “synthetic opiate antinarcotic in action”, nalline test or other detection tests, at a hospital or other facility, equipped to make such tests, whether such person is using narcotic drugs. A failure to report for such tests or a determination that such person is unlawfully using narcotic drugs shall constitute a violation of probation. If the court places a person adjudicated as a youthful offender for a violation of section 53-247 on probation, the court may order that, as a condition of such probation, the person undergo psychiatric or psychological counseling or participate in an animal cruelty prevention and education program, provided such a program exists and is available to the person.

(c) Commitment under this section shall be for a period not to exceed the term of imprisonment authorized for the crime committed by the defendant, but in no event shall any such period exceed four years, and shall be to any religious, charitable or other correctional institution authorized by law to receive persons over the age of sixteen years. Whenever a youthful offender is committed by the court to any duly authorized religious, charitable or other institution, other than an institution supported or controlled by the state or a subdivision thereof, such commitment shall be made, when practicable, to a religious, charitable or other institution under the control of persons of the same religious faith or persuasion as that of the youthful offender. If a youthful offender is committed by the court to any institution other than an institution supported or controlled by the state or a subdivision thereof, which is under the control of persons of a religion or persuasion different from that of the youthful offender, the court shall state or recite the facts which impel it to make such disposition, and such statement shall be made a part of the record of the proceedings.

(1971, P.A. 72, S. 9; P.A. 78-17; P.A. 79-269; P.A. 94-136, S. 1; 94-221, S. 12; P.A. 95-225, S. 43; P.A. 97-248, S. 9, 12; P.A. 99-187, S. 6; P.A. 03-208, S. 4; P.A. 05-232, S. 6; 05-288, S. 226; P.A. 10-43, S. 26.)

History: P.A. 78-17 replaced suspended sentence with imposition of conditional or unconditional discharge and authorized placement of defendant on probation for cases where sentence imposed but execution of judgment suspended where previously probation was authorized for suspended sentence as well; P.A. 79-269 authorized imposition of sentence of community service; P.A. 94-136 inserted Subsec. indicators, amended Subsec. (a) to add a new Subdiv. (5) authorizing the court to impose a sentence to a term of imprisonment not greater than that authorized for the crime committed by the defendant, renumber former Subdiv. (5) as Subdiv. (6) and authorize the court to suspend execution of the sentence “entirely or after a period set by the court” and add Subdiv. (7) authorizing the court to order treatment pursuant to Sec. 17a-656, amended Subsec. (b) to authorize the court to place the defendant on conditional discharge and amended Subsec. (c) to change the maximum period of commitment from three years to “the term of imprisonment authorized for the crime committed by the defendant”; P.A. 94-221 authorized requiring school and class attendance and compliance with school policies on student conduct and discipline to be a condition of probation and, in such a case, made failure to so attend and comply a violation of probation; P.A. 95-225 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision authorizing the court to order that as a condition of probation the person be referred for services to a youth service bureau if the court finds that the person is in need of and likely to benefit from such services; P.A. 97-248 amended Subsec. (a) to correct a statutory reference in Subdiv. (7) and add Subdiv. (8) to authorize the court to transfer the supervision of the defendant to the court handling the criminal docket for drug-dependent persons if such a docket has been established in the judicial district, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-187 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision authorizing the court to order as a condition of probation that the person participate in the zero-tolerance drug supervision program established pursuant to Sec. 53a-39d; P.A. 03-208 amended Subsec. (b) to make a technical change and add provision authorizing the court to order counseling or participation in an animal cruelty prevention and education program as a condition of probation for a person adjudicated as a youthful offender for a violation of Sec. 53-247; P.A. 05-232 amended Subsec. (a)(5) by adding provision re maximum term of four years, amended Subsec. (b) by replacing provision re extension of probation for period not to exceed five years, including original probationary period, with provision re extension of period of probation or conditional discharge as deemed appropriate by the court after hearing and for good cause shown, amended Subsec. (c) by adding provisions re maximum period of four years and made technical changes, effective January 1, 2006; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in Subsec. (b); P.A. 10-43 amended Subsec. (b) to delete provision authorizing court to order as condition of probation that person participate in zero-tolerance drug supervision program.

Cited. 173 C. 414; 190 C. 715; 240 C. 743.

Only one penalty allowed upon adjudication as a youthful offender in one or more matters. 8 CA 607.

Conflict with Sec. 18-75. 30 CS 71.

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases, 1972–2014 · leading case: State v. Eric T., 513 A.2d 1273 (Conn. App. Ct. 1986).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State v. Eric T., 513 A.2d 1273 (Conn. App. Ct. 1986). · cites it 10× “The adjudication as a youthful offender is a determination of status, rather than a conviction for the underlying offenses or charges made following the initial arrest. Once a defendant is adjudicated to have the status of youthful offender for one or more underlying criminal…”
State v. Matos, 694 A.2d 775 (Conn. 1997). · cites it 5× “General Statutes § 54-76h. A youthful offender is also eligible to receive a more lenient sentence; compare General Statutes § 54-76j, 11 with, e.”
State v. SILAS S., 22 A.3d 622 (Conn. 2011). · cites it 6× “4 The trial court imposed a sentence of a term of imprisonment and suspended the execution of that sentence in accordance with General Statutes § 54-76j (a), which provides in relevant part that “[t]he court, upon the adjudication of any person as a youthful offender, may .”
State v. Anonymous (83-FG), 463 A.2d 533 (Conn. 1983). · cites it 2× “In this case, judgment of conviction was rendered on October 18,1978, and the trial court filed a finding on May 16, 1979. “Concerning trials to the court where the trial judge filed a finding prior to July 1, 1979, the rules for the supreme court effective July 1, 1978, apply.”
State v. BB, 17 A.3d 30 (Conn. 2011). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 54-76h. In addition, a defendant on the youthful offender docket is eligible to receive a more lenient sentence.”
State v. SILAS S., 982 A.2d 1105 (Conn. App. Ct. 2009). · cites it 18× “The court's authority in sentencing a youthful offender is codified in General Statutes § 54-76j. The following provisions of that statute are relevant to the present appeal.”
State v. B.B, 300 Conn. 748 (Conn. 2011). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 54-76h. In addition, a defendant on the youthful offender docket is eligible to receive a more lenient sentence.”
State v. R. W., 984 A.2d 1177 (Conn. Super. Ct. 2009). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 54-76h. A youthful offender is also eligible to receive a more lenient sentence; compare General Statutes § 54-76j with, e.”
State v. Easton (Conn. App. Ct. 2014). · cites it 2× “That status is expressed in a variety of benefits, including segregation from other defendants older than age eigh- teen; General Statutes § 54-76h; more lenient sentenc- ing; General Statutes § 54-76j; determination of delinquency rather than a criminal conviction; General…”
State v. RW, 984 A.2d 1177 (Conn. Super. Ct. 2009). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 54-76h. A youthful offender is also eligible to receive a more lenient sentence; compare General Statutes § 54-76j, with, e.”
State v. Anonymous, 30 Conn. Supp. 71 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1972). “The Youthful Offenders Act (§ 54-76j [1971]) limits confinement by order of any judge to three years.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.