(a) Exclusive original jurisdiction. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, the court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over juvenile matters and shall be the sole court for initiating action:

(1) Concerning any child:

(A) Who is alleged to be delinquent;

(B) Who is alleged to be unruly;

(C) Who is alleged to be deprived;

(D) Who is alleged to be in need of treatment or commitment as a mentally ill or mentally retarded child;

(E) Who is alleged to have committed a juvenile traffic offense as defined in Code Section 15-11-73; or

(F) Who has been placed under the supervision of the court or on probation to the court; provided, however, that such jurisdiction shall be for the sole purpose of completing, effectuating, and enforcing such supervision or a probation begun prior to the child's seventeenth birthday; or

(2) Involving any proceedings:

(A) For obtaining judicial consent to the marriage, employment, or enlistment in the armed services of any child if such consent is required by law;

(B) Under the Interstate Compact on Juveniles, or any comparable law, if enacted or adopted in this state;

(C) For the termination of the legal parent-child relationship and the rights of the biological father who is not the legal father of the child, other than that in connection with adoption proceedings under Chapter 8 of Title 19, in which the superior courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to terminate the legal parent-child relationship and the rights of the biological father who is not the legal father of the child;

(D) Under Article 3 of this chapter, relating to prior notice to a parent or guardian relative to an unemancipated minor's decision to seek an abortion; or

(E) Brought by a local board of education pursuant to Code Section 20-2-766.1.

(b) Criminal jurisdiction.

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court over a child who is alleged to have committed a delinquent act which would be considered a crime if tried in a superior court and for which the child may be punished by loss of life, imprisonment for life without possibility of parole, or confinement for life in a penal institution. (2)(A) The superior court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the trial of any child 13 to 17 years of age who is alleged to have committed any of the following offenses:

(i) Murder;

(ii) Voluntary manslaughter;

(iii) Rape;

(iv) Aggravated sodomy;

(v) Aggravated child molestation;

(vi) Aggravated sexual battery; or

(vii) Armed robbery if committed with a firearm.

(A.1) The granting of bail or pretrial release of a child charged with an offense enumerated in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall be governed by the provisions of Code Section 17-6-1.

(B) After indictment, the superior court may after investigation and for extraordinary cause transfer any case involving a child 13 to 17 years of age alleged to have committed any offense enumerated in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph which is not punishable by loss of life, imprisonment for life without possibility of parole, or confinement for life in a penal institution. Any such transfer shall be appealable by the State of Georgia pursuant to Code Section 5-7-1. Upon such a transfer by the superior court, jurisdiction shall vest in the juvenile court and jurisdiction of the superior court shall terminate. Any case transferred by the superior court to the juvenile court pursuant to this subparagraph shall be subject to the designated felony provisions of Code Section 15-11-63 and the transfer of the case from superior court to juvenile court shall constitute notice to the child that such case is subject to the designated felony provisions of Code Section 15-11-63.

(C) Before indictment, the district attorney may, after investigation and for extraordinary cause, decline prosecution in the superior court of a child 13 to 17 years of age alleged to have committed an offense specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. Upon declining such prosecution in the superior court, the district attorney shall immediately withdraw the case and lodge it in the appropriate juvenile court for adjudication. Any case transferred by the district attorney to the juvenile court pursuant to this subparagraph shall be subject to the designated felony provisions of Code Section 15-11-63 and the transfer of the case from superior court to juvenile court shall constitute notice to the child that such case is subject to the designated felony provisions of Code Section 15-11-63.

(D) The superior court may transfer any case involving a child 13 to 17 years of age alleged to have committed any offense enumerated in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph and convicted of a lesser included offense not included in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph to the juvenile court of the county of the child's residence for disposition. Upon such a transfer by the superior court, jurisdiction shall vest in the juvenile court and jurisdiction of the superior court shall terminate.

(E) Within 30 days of any proceeding in which a child 13 to 17 years of age is convicted of certain offenses over which the superior court has exclusive jurisdiction as provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph or adjudicated delinquent on the basis of conduct which if committed by an adult would constitute such offenses, the superior court shall provide written notice to the school superintendent or his or her designee of the school in which such child is enrolled or, if the information is known, of the school in which such child plans to be enrolled at a future date. Such notice shall include the specific criminal offense that such child committed. A local school system to which the child is assigned may request further information from the court's file.

(c) Concurrent custody and support jurisdiction. Where custody is the subject of controversy, except in those cases where the law gives the superior courts exclusive jurisdiction, in the consideration of these cases the juvenile court shall have concurrent jurisdiction to hear and determine the issue of custody and support when the issue is transferred by proper order of the superior court.

(d) Age limit for new actions. The juvenile court shall not have jurisdiction to initiate any new action against an individual for acts committed after he or she has reached the age of 17 years. This subsection does not affect the court's jurisdiction to enter extension orders pursuant to Code Section 15-11-58.

(e) Concurrent jurisdiction as to legitimation petitions.

(1) The juvenile court shall have concurrent jurisdiction to hear any legitimation petition transferred to the juvenile court by proper order of the superior court.

(2) The juvenile court shall have jurisdiction to hear any legitimation petition filed pursuant to Code Section 19-7-22 as to a child with respect to whom a deprivation proceeding is pending in the juvenile court at the time the legitimation petition is filed.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, after a petition for legitimation is granted, if a demand for a jury trial as to support has been properly filed by either parent, then the case shall be transferred to superior court for such jury trial.