Legal Definitions - offender

Offender is a legal term used in criminal law to describe a person who has been found guilty of committing a crime or offense.

For example, an adult offender is someone who has been convicted of a crime after reaching the legal age of majority. A young offender, also known as a juvenile delinquent, is someone who has been convicted of a crime during late adolescence or early adulthood but before reaching the legal age of majority.

Another example is a first offender, which is someone who has been convicted of a crime for the first time. A career offender, on the other hand, is an adult offender who commits a felony that is either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense after being convicted of two prior crimes of violence or controlled substance offenses.

These examples illustrate how the term offender is used to describe individuals who have been found guilty of committing a crime or offense, and how different types of offenders can be classified based on their age, criminal history, and the nature of their offense.