A Family Court commitment to the Rhode Island Training School can last no longer than the youth's 19th birthday under R.I. Gen. Laws § 14-1-36. The judge can set a shorter term or end it early, and a youth held only while the case is pending is usually there for days or weeks, not months. The exception is certification. If the court certifies a juvenile under § 14-1-7.2, it can impose a sentence that runs past 19, up to the adult maximum for the offense, with the youth serving time at the Training School until 19 and the rest at the adult prison. Because certification changes everything about the sentence, fighting it is often the most important part of a serious juvenile case.
