Petitions or charges within a petition can be dismissed by a judge. A dismissal means further consideration or hearings regarding the petition or charge are terminated and no further formal action is taken. Dismissals can be either with prejudice (cannot be re-filed) or without prejudice (can be re-filed). Dismissal of a petition can occur during the advisory or adjudication stages. It is possible for a petition to be dismissed due to a lack of evidence during either of these hearings.
Similarly, a juvenile could have more than one charge/count pending. In this situation, the juvenile's defense attorney could initiate a process with the County Attorney resulting in dismissal of one charge while receiving a disposition (i.e., formal reprimand, Standard Probation, Juvenile Intensive Probation Supervision, or commitment to the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections) on another charge. Dismissals can also take place as an agreement in court to extend unfulfilled diversion conditions.
Upon completion of the conditions, the dismissal stops any further prosecution. Cases can also be dismissed when transferred to another jurisdiction prior to adjudication or by the County Attorney filing a motion to dismiss due to a victim’s request, lack of cooperation or availability of witnesses, or unreasonable likelihood of adjudication.