Teen Court of Kern County - Submitted by Beth Rumbo
By: Beth Rumbo
Topics: Legal, teens, community
Anonymous user Wed Nov 30, -0001 00:00:00 PST
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Teen Court of Kern County
Teen Court was established in October 1993. Since the beginning, Teen Court has maintained a 90 percent success rate of minors not re-entering the formal Juvenile Justice system. Teen Court is funded by grants, court fines and private and corporate donations.
In Teen Court, young people between the ages of 10 and 17 years, who are first time misdemeanor offenders with no previous formal involvement with the Juvenile Justice system, can be referred by the Kern County Probation Department to this alternative diversion court.
The must admit guilt of the offense and voluntarily agree to appear with his/her parents in Teen Court for sentencing by a jury of his/her peers.
The Teen Court program utilizes many adult volunteers: local attorneys serve as judges and paralegals from the Kern County Paralegal Association (KCPA) prepare the contracts and other required forms. Other adult volunteers serve as integral staff in the court process.
Teen Court juries are composed of minors serving their Teen Court sentences as well as student volunteers from our local Junior High and High Schools, who also serve as court bailiffs. Some of the student volunteers are returning graduates of the Teen Court program. The jury members come to realize that it is possible to think before you act and through this, learn to make better decisions when faced with life’s temptations.
After testimony, questioning and deliberation, the sentence given by a jury of peers includes mandatory fines and community service hours in addition to jury service. Other sentencing possibilities are written essays, letters of apology to victims and graffiti clean up. The volunteer attorney serving as judge signs the Jury Report Form. The teen presents the Jury Report Form to the volunteer paralegal from KCPA who completes the contract for the teen and parent to sign.
Upon completion of the sentence (within 90 days), the case file is destroyed and charges are dismissed at the Kern County Probation Department.
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