The Illinois Juvenile Justice system operates similarly to most other states. The age of juvenile court jurisdiction ends at age 18, except for a limited number of serious offenses that are subject to transfer to adult court: offenses committed by youth who are under age 18 are generally within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. (As noted throughout this document, Illinois raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to age 18 in two steps, for misdemeanor offenses beginning in 2010 and for felony offenses in 2014. The impact of the most recent change is still being addressed in many ways. Additionally, since the three-year plan was submitted, Illinois adopted legislation significantly scaling back the automatic transfer of youth to adult court. This legislation – effective January 2016 – is described in multiple sections of this document.)