Cal. WIC § 602
This is the official text of Cal. WIC § 602, part of California’s Welfare and Institutions Code — governs public social services, juvenile justice, and mental health/developmental disability services.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Official statutory text
(a) Except as provided in Section 707, any minor who is between 12 years of age and 17 years of age, inclusive, when he or she violates any law of this state or of the United States or any ordinance of any city or county of this state defining crime other than an ordinance establishing a curfew based solely on age, is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court.
(b) Any minor who is under 12 years of age when he or she is alleged to have committed any of the following offenses is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court:
(1) Murder.
(2) Rape by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
(3) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
(4) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
(5) Sexual penetration by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
(b) Any minor who is under 12 years of age when he or she is alleged to have committed any of the following offenses is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court:
(1) Murder.
(2) Rape by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
(3) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
(4) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
(5) Sexual penetration by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in California?
Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.