The Supreme Court of Georgia consolidated two juvenile delinquency cases presenting the consequence of the State’s failure to file a delinquency petition within the statutory deadline. In the first case, a petition concerning alleged terroristic threats was filed one day late. In the second, the State likewise missed the deadline and the Court of Appeals reached the opposite conclusion about the effect of the violation. The Supreme Court held that when the State fails to file the petition within 30 days, and does not obtain an extension, the juvenile case must be dismissed without prejudice. The Court interpreted the Juvenile Code together with its prior precedent and rejected the view that the statutory violation required dismissal with prejudice. It affirmed the Court of Appeals’ judgment in the first case and reversed its judgment in the second case. The ruling resolved a conflict between appellate panels and established the consequence of an untimely delinquency petition under the revised Juvenile Code. One Justice concurred in the judgment only; another Justice did not participate.