PETITIONS FOR DELINQUENCY

(a) Contents of Petition.

(1) Each petition shall be entitled a petition for delinquency and shall allege facts showing the child to have committed a delinquent act. The petition must be a plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged.

(2) The petition shall contain allegations as to the identity and residence of the parents or custodians, if known.

(3) In petitions alleging delinquency, each count shall recite the official or customary citations of the statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, or other provision of the law which the child is alleged to have violated, including the degree of each offense.

(4) Two or more allegations of the commission of delinquent acts may appear in the same petition, in separate counts.

(5) Two or more children may be the subject of the same petition if they are alleged to have participated in the same act or transaction or in the same series of acts or transactions constituting an offense or offenses. The children may be named in one or more counts together or separately and all of them need not be named in each count.

(6) Allegations made in one count shall not be incorporated by reference in another count.

(b) Verification. The petition shall be signed by the state attorney or assistant state attorney, stating under oath the petitioner’s good faith in filing the petition. No objection to a petition on the grounds that it was not signed or verified, as herein provided, shall be entertained after a plea to the merits.

(c) Child’s Right to Copy of Petition. Upon application to the clerk, a child must be furnished a copy of the petition and the endorsements on it at least 24 hours before being required to plead to the petition.

(d) Amendments. At any time prior to the adjudicatory hearing an amended petition may be filed or the petition may be amended on motion. Amendments shall be freely permitted in the interest of justice and the welfare of the child. A continuance may be granted upon motion and a showing that the amendment prejudices or materially affects any party.

(e) Statement of Particulars. The court, on motion, must order the prosecuting attorney to furnish a statement of particulars when the petition on which the child is to be tried fails to inform the child of the particulars of the offense sufficiently to enable the child to prepare a defense. The statement of particulars must specify as definitely as possible the place, date, and all other material facts of the crime charged that are specifically requested and are known to the prosecuting attorney. Reasonable doubts concerning the construction of this rule shall be resolved in favor of the child.

(f) Defects and Variances. No petition or any count thereof shall be dismissed, or any judgment vacated, on account of any defect in the form of the petition or of misjoinder of offenses or for any cause whatsoever.