Legal Definitions - transfer hearing

A transfer hearing is a legal proceeding where a judge decides whether a case should be moved from one court to another. This can happen for various reasons, such as if the case involves a juvenile who should be tried in a different court or if the case should be moved to a federal court instead of a state court.

For example, if a 16-year-old is accused of a crime, their case may start in juvenile court. However, if the crime is serious enough, the prosecution may request a transfer hearing to move the case to adult court.

Another example is if a case involves a federal law or constitutional issue, it may be transferred from a state court to a federal court.