Federal Youth Court Program

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Youth Court E-update

Date: September 2003 - (Download PDF Version)

Topic: Jury Duty--What Happens When There Aren't Enough Cases to Keep Volunteers and Respondents Busy?

Question: An important part of our sentencing options is jury duties. The juries must assign at least 2 to every defendant. Usually a student ends up having to serve between 2 and 7 jury duties. Recently we have not been getting many referrals (the program sometimes has very slow times). I have a few students who have been waiting for months to serve their jury duties, with everything else already completed. Do any of you have this problem, and if so what have you done to get the students to complete the program when they cannot serve their jury duties? Have you ever recalled a jury to come up with something else for them to do?

Responses from Coordinators:

Autauga County Teen Court
Martha Ellis
Director
PASS: The Noble Idea, Inc.
696 Silver Hills Drive P.O. Box 681242
Prattville, AL 36066
Phone: (334) 358-4900
Fax: (334) 358-4909
teencrt@bellsouth.net

We too have experience a reduction in referrals. We feel it is unfair for a defendant to have to wait on cases, so we offer them an hour of community service in lieu of jury duty. I know they don't get the experience but we don't want to be unfair either.

Washington County Teen Court
Scott Gage
Coordinator
Washington County Juvenile Court
P.O. Box 3425
Fayetteville, AR 72702-3425
Phone: (479) 444-1631
Fax: (479) 444-1749
Lsgage129@cs.com

I sometimes have alternatives that I use when case loads dictate that jury duties are not possible within a reasonable time frame. I sometimes have the defendant come to the Juvenile Courtroom and observe arraignments or other proceedings. I have a simple form that I use in which I ask them to write down what they observe in court. I usually have them observe for an hour or two. Then we go to my office at the Juvenile Court and I do a debriefing with them about what they have seen. I sometimes think the debriefing would be good to use with all defendants at the close of their cases, but I have not implemented that in all cases.

Another option that I use is a couple of lessons that I have put together from various sources. A lesson is sent to the defendant and the defendant works on it at home and sends it back to me. I have one lesson on shoplifting and another on alcohol and drug use.

I have found these to be good alternatives when there are not enough cases to complete jury duties in a reasonable time. These are alternatives that I initiate as coordinator when they are needed. I do not solicit the input of another jury in order to implement them.

Maricopa County Juvenile Court - Sumner Teen Court
Charlsie Cordova
West Valley Teen Court Coordinator
Maricopa County Juvenile Probation
5720 Camelback
Glendale, AZ 85301
Phone: (602) 525-8898
Fax: (623) 930-6130
CHACOR@juvenile.maricopa.gov

Jury service is not mandatory in our teen courts. We do not assign teen court jury duty unless we know we have hearings scheduled. There have been times when the defendant had to go to another teen court to complete or they had to complete community service in lieu of jury duty. We have also had the defendants complete the on-line jury training.

Pima County Teen Court
Adelita Grijalva
Program Manager
Pima Prevention Partnership
330 North Commerce Park, Loop #160
Tucson, AZ 85745
Phone: (520) 326-2528 ext.
Fax: (520) 884-8820
agrijalva@pimaprevention.org

We at Pima County Teen Court in Tucson, AZ limit the number of jury duties that can be assigned to 3 because otherwise we could easily be in the same situation and we have a limit of 60 days in which to have a teen be compliant with the program. If a child is assigned to 3 jury duties and misses one, we will usually assigned 5 hours of community service in place of the missed jury duty as rescheduling will place them passed their deadline date (we hold hearing 2 times/month).

Willcox Youth Court
Sally White
Coordinator
Willcox Against Substance Abuse
City Magistrate Court
480 North Bisbee Avenue
Willcox, AZ 85643
Phone: (520) 384-4777
Fax: (520) 384-1141
wasa@qwest.net

We also require a mandatory 2 juries with option for more. As part of our jury training we discuss the purpose of jury service and suggest that 2 are generally sufficient and appropriate unless the actions of the defendant indicate they need a better understanding of the legal system. Therefore, it is pretty rare for us to get more than 2 or 3 juries (along with all the other options), however we have had as many as 6 assigned. We usually have 1 to 2 cases each week so service is not a big problem, however there have been a few times we have gotten a back-log. Have you considered having mock/practice trials when there is nothing in your case file? This gives the team some additional training and could allow the defendants to learn from jury service, which we feel is the main purpose for the mandatory sentence. Another option we have used on a couple of occasions is having the sentenced jurists complete the training on www.youthcourt.net - they must make prior arrangements with the YC to substitute this for service, but it has been allowed. The website forwards the document they complete so we have documentation that they actually completed jury time. As for sending them back for a change of sentence our advisor (who is the City Magistrate) is strictly opposed to this, in fact he feels it is close to jury tampering to not accept the sentence rendered. We have had defendants come back before the youth judge to petition for additional time to complete community service and on occasion they have been allowed to convert some hours into fines in order to get their sentence completed, but that is not quite the same thing.

Humboldt County Teen Court
Kyle Browning
Teen Court Coordinator
Boys and Girls Club
3015 J Street
Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: (707) 444-0153 ext.
Fax: (707) 444-0915
tcourt@northcoast.com

Our program faces a similar problem during the summer when, for various reasons, referrals get slow. What we usually do is allow the defendants to accompany a Teen Court staff person to observe an adult trial proceeding at the local Superior Court. We usually allow them to do this in place of one Teen Court jury duty.

Elsinore Valley Youth Court
Doug Monte
Deputy
Riverside County Sheriff's Department
333 W. Limited Avenue
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Phone: (909) 245-3332
Fax: (909) 245-3311
dmonte@rc-lawnet.org

Shortage of referrals is not a common problem for us, but I would look to the schools or school resource officers for violations that could be considered crimes.

Suggestion: We (Elsinore Valley Youth Court) have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 jury duties. 7 sounds like a lot. In addition, the minimum sanctions include: 100-250 word Apology letter, 300-900 word Life-Goal Essay, 2-Sself-Eesteem Classes, 1-Positive Choices Class, 1-Jail Tour (14 years or older) and a minimum of 4 Substance Abuse Classes if applicable. That's a lot for the kids and the jury service is just the cream. I would schedule them as if they were to serve as a juror, and if for some reason there are not enough new cases, have plan "B" ready to go... show a video, hold an ethics class, or make up a short session addressing peer pressure, positive choices, or ??? class for one hour or so. Be flexible with the program.

Placer County Peer Court
Karen Green
Peer Court Coordinator
671 Newcastle Road., Suite 7
Newcastle, CA 95658
Phone: (916) 663-9227
Fax: (916) 663-2965
placerpeercourt@aol.com

The jury service, we feel, is a critical part of the sentence so I wouldn't go with anything less than 2 times. It's never been a problem for Placer as our case flow is so large.

Donald P. McCullum Youth Court
Paula Bruce
Executive Director
337 17th Street, Ste. 205
Oakland, CA 94612-3356
Phone: (510) 832-5858 ext. 303
Fax: (510) 834-4421
paula@youthcourt.org

I would arrange for them to sit in on a real civil trial and do some research maybe some interviews, then write a report on the responsibilities and importance of juries are to the justice system.

El Dorado County Teen Court Program
Jeanette Sargenti
Project Director
c/o El Dorado Co. Public Health Dept.
929 Spring Street
Placerville, CA 95667
Phone: (530) 621-6147
Fax: (530) 626-4277
jsargenti@co.el-dorado.ca.us

Currently, we have not run into the problem of lack of cases. But, some ideas may be:

If you know ahead of time that you are having low numbers- an idea may be to have the student begin serving his/her time on the jury on the same night they are sentenced. That way they might get one or two completed right away. We have found that 3 works really well for us because we hear six cases per evening-in two courtrooms-so 3 per courtroom. That way the offender returns for one complete Teen Court evening. (They are technically sentenced to 3 jury duties, but may actually serve as a juror, clerk or bailiff.) In our county we have mandatory sentencing and then sentence options.

Santa Barbara Teen Court
Ramon Velazquez
Program Manager
Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
PO Box 28
Santa Barbara, CA 93102
Phone: (805) 963-1433
Fax: (805) 963-4099
ramonv@cadasb.org

Since we don't have the "slow times" our Teen Court has not experienced this issue. But at times, students have conflicting schedules, and we translate the Jury Duty portion of the sentence to Community Service hours.

Lassen County Teen Court
Jessica Moss
Juvenile Court Programs Coordinator
Lassen County Superior Court
220 S. Lassen Street, Suite 6
Susanville, CA 96130
Phone: (530) 251-8002
Fax: (530) 251-8257
jmoss@lassencourt.ca.gov

We have had this "issue" in our teen court program since we began in December 2002. I almost always have defendants that need to wait 3-4 months to serve their jury duty. One suggestion was brought up in our county to have teen court hear other "types" of cases (i.e.. our court does not hear many alcohol related offenses) to allow for more "jury duties" to take place. Another issue I have run into is where a defendant had to move to another state right in the middle of completing her sentence. I assigned her so many hours of community service (our community service is not a mandatory sentence option) and that sufficed her jury duties. Another idea I had, is to have those kids who need to serve jury duty, participate in a local event or project that would allow them to "work off" their jury duties all the while promoting community involvement and empowering the young person by their volunteer work to the community. These are just a few ideas we have been trying out. We hear only 4 cases per month. When our program began, we only allowed kids to serve jury duty one time per teen court hearing night. Now, if I have 2 cases a night, I will allow them to serve 2 jury duties in one night. We do not allow more than 3 "prior defendants" to sit on the jury at any one time.

Durango Teen Court
Molly Martin
Coordinator
Durango High School
2390 Main Avenue
Durango, CO 81301
Phone: (970) 259-1630 ext. 364
mmartin@durango.k12.co.us

We have just 1 jury duty as a requirement, which makes it quicker for defendants to go through. I will also sign off a defendant if they have completed everything else, and let them know that I will be calling them to jury duty at a later time.

Volusia County Teen Court
Shirley Santillana
Senior Coordinator
Court Administration
101 N. Alabama Avenue, Suite B253
Deland, FL 32724
Phone: (386) 822-5703
Fax: (386)-740-5141
ssantillana@circuit7.org

My students are sentenced from 3- jury duties. However, that means 3-5 nights attending teen court and serving on 1-3 jury duties. For us it is nights, not individual jury duties. I did this because I used to have the problem you are now having. I changed to this in 1995 and I have never had a problem. Some of the kids are attending other classes as well on those evenings and I still have enough jurors to run 3 court rooms and sit and have 2 juries per court room.

Alachua County Sheriff's Office Teen Court
Jason Holthus
Teen Court Coordinator
Alachua Co. Sheriff's Office
P.O. Box 1210
Gainesville, FL 32602-1210
Phone: (352) 367-4125
Fax: (352)-374-1809
jholthus@alachuasheriff.org

In response to your question, I have at times converted jury duties to community service hours. For example, one jury equals two hours of community service. Of course, you can increase/decrease the number of hours you would have a defendant do for each jury duty missed. On occasion, I have defendants that live out in rural areas, have transportation issues, or have full-time jobs that jury duty would be very difficult for them to satisfy.

Suwannee County Teen Court
Jean Fieler
Executive Director
Suwannee County Clerk of the Circuit Court
Suwannee County Courthouse
200 South Ohio Avenue
Live Oak, FL 32064
Phone: (386) 362-0549
jeanfieler@hotmail.com

We have the same problem from time to time, so what I do is hold mock trials/training sessions, where the kids put on a trial using mock defendants and the jury deliberates and comes back with a mock sentence. This is a wonderful training opportunity for the officers and the defendants - we prepare the cases in the same manner as if it we were holding a genuine trial. However, sometimes we get creative. I have one mock trial involving a defendant named "Peter Wolf", who is charged with assault and criminal mischief because he caused damage to some houses and harassed the homeowners. The victim's names are "Porcine Little", "Hambone McVee", and "Earl Bacon".

Escambia County Teen Court
Selbia Reagan
Program Coordinator
Court Administration/Juvenile Services
2251 North Palafox, Room 128
Pensacola, FL 32501
Phone: (850) 595-3805
Fax: (850) 595-3809
selbia_reagan@co.escambia.fl.us

We've never had the problem you’re having, but we have had problems with individuals not being able to complete their JD's because of transportation. Escambia County Florida is a very large county geographically. Our volunteers receive three hours of community service for each session they attend. We simply transfer the needed JD's to community service hours based on that same ratio. If possible we will require that they attend a minimum of one session, but sometimes that is not even possible.

Seminole County Teen Court
Kathleen Breehl
Teen Court Coordinator
190 Bush Boulevard
Sanford, FL 32773
Phone: (407) 665-5364
Fax: (407)-665-5365
kbreehl@co.seminole.fl.us

I would suggest sending them to observe regular Juvenile court if possible. They would be able to see exactly what they would be going through if they had not chosen the diversion program.

Dublin-Laurens County Teen Court
Will Smith
Executive Director
100 South Church StreetP.O. Box 4476
Dublin, GA 31040-4476
Phone: (478) 277-1404
Fax: (478)-277-1413
wtsmith@nlamerica.com

At different times in our program, cases have been slow, so I've been very creative by allowing defendants to do extra community service hours or attend some kind of social event that's beneficial to them. Also, the defendant must write an essay on the social event to replace the jury duties. Hopefully this will help in your creativeness with the defendants if this problem arises again.

Hawaii Island Teen Court
Dan Straight
Youth Services Director
Kohala Intergenerational Center
305 Wailuku Drive #6
Hilo, HI 96720
Phone: (808) 934-7792
Fax: (808) 935-6365
hitc@ilhawaii.net

In the summers we have had the same problem, especially in Kona where the kids get sent away to Grandma's in Honolulu for the summer. We have held workshops taken right out of the "Street Law for Youth Courts Educational Workshops" book. The role playing and group interaction helps each participant experience "working" towards a decision which comes close to jury work during a hearing. We have also shown two good videos produced by the Maui County Prosecutor's office on choices and consequences. The group discussions following the videos are always informative and lively. Many times we'll hold a mock hearing at the end of the lesson which helps with attorney training and it's good practice on using the seven step deliberation process where you can take more time to help the kids discover why we go through each step and what is the goal of a jury verdict.

Knox County Teen Court
Paula Johnson
Coordinator
55 West Tomkins StreetP.O. Box 1387
Galesburg, IL 61401
Phone: (309) 345-3800
Fax: (309) 345-3897
teenct@ci.galesburg.il.us

We have the same problem...with slow times. What has really worked well for us it to have the defendant write essays: What the Teen Court trial experience was like for him/her and another about the Juvenile Criminal Justice System. It has worked, and the essays were surprisingly well written.

Lincolnshire Peer Jury Program
Patrick Quillinan
Commander
Lincolnshire Police Department
One Olde Half Day Road
Lincolnshire, IL 60069-3035
Phone: (847) 883-9900
Fax: (847) 883-9909
pquill@village.lincolnshire.il.us

We do not mandate jury service, we offer it as an option after they conclude their sentence.

Wells County Teen Court
Angie Dial
Teen Court Coordinator
Family Centered Services
123 S. Marion StreetP.O. Box 207
Bluffton, IN 46714
Phone: (260) 824-8574
Fax: (260) 824-2790
WellsTeenCourt@yahoo.com

Each juvenile offender is required to serve 1 time on a future Teen Court jury. However, we limit the number of times they can serve to 3 because of scheduling problems we have experienced in the past.

Reach for Youth, Inc.
Julie Deckard
Teen Court Program Manager
3505 North Washington Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN 46205
Phone: (317) 920-5900
Fax: (317) 920-5912
jdeckard@reachforyouth.org

If a sentenced juror is unable to complete their jury duty because of no referrals, our program assigns 3 hrs of community service for each jury duty not completed.

Lansing Teen Court
Michael Botke
Director
217 South Capitol Avenue - 230
Lansing, MI 48933
Phone: (517) 371-2823
Fax: (517) 371-2836
teencourtlansing@cooley.edu

We have a great working relationship with our local prosecutor, which is where we receive all referrals. Depending upon where you get your referrals you would need to generate more so you can serve more and then create more opportunities for respondents to serve as jurors. Because of the number of referrals we have received and due to the positive contact we have with new respondents we had to create a second monthly set of hearings. We now conduct two hearing dates per month; each date includes 6 hearings. Our local city high schools jumped at the chance to involve a second class in our training so they can serve in our Peer Jury Model. We conduct hearings year round and because of school recess we then recruit from within training successful respondents from our program. This works out much better as our hearings are conducted in courtrooms during regular business days. We are now working with Thomas M. Cooley Law School. They are completing new state of the art teaching Moot Court Rooms and they have granted us permission to use them this Fall. This has resolved space issues in our county courthouses. Judges are willing to come to us at the Law School courtrooms to help hear cases.

Oakland County Teen Court
Tasha Hanson
Teen Court Coordinator
Oakland County Prosecutor's Office
1200 N. Telegraph Road
Pontiac, MI 48341
Phone: (248) 858-1553
Fax: (248) 975-4265
hansont@co.oakland.mi.us

I have an idea for this question. I would change that portion of the sentence (with the Teen Court Judge's permission)...instead of Jury Duty I would issue either community service hours for the amount of time they would have spent on the Jury or have them watch a criminal call/Jury Trial in either the local District Court or Circuit court for the amount of time they would be on the jury and then have them write a 1,000 wd essay (or whatever # deemed appropriate) on their thoughts, somewhat like a reflection essay.

Wright County Teen Court Program
Nathan Miller
Probation Officer
Wright County Court Services
10 2nd St, NW Rm 141
Buffalo, MN 55313
Phone: (763) 682-7712
Fax: (763) 682-7943
nathan.miller@co.wright.mn.us

We don't have offenders ordered to jury duty, sometimes we "recommend" that they apply for jury duty, but we don't follow up on those recommendations.

Bladen County Teen Court
Johnice Autry
Teen Court Coordinator
Cooperative Extension Center
PO Box 249
Elizabethown, NC 28337
Phone: (910) 862-4591
Fax: (910) 862-6939
Johnice_Autry@ncsu.edu

I have not had this problem but perhaps you can have them write an essay in the place or their duties.

Pitt County Teen Court
M. Duane Maxwell
Teen Court Coordinator
Mediation Center of Eastern Carolina
400 Martin Luther King Blvd.P.O. Box 4428
Greenville, NC 27836-2428
Phone: (252) 758-0268
Fax: (252) 758-8810
dmaxwell@mceconline.org

Pitt County Teen Court has had a similar situation. During the summer PCTC is not in session due to the lack available volunteers. This results in a backlog of defendants waiting to complete sanctions over the summer months. We have addressed this by arranging it so that instead of jury duty the defendant may observe an hour of district court for each jury duty prescribed. The defendant has a card that is signed by a check-point Deputy. They must sign in and out of the courthouse. A Deputy's signature, the time, and the date are required in order to receive credit. This worked well for the summer months. However, I don't see how this would work when school is in session. Hope this can be of some assistance.

Pender County Teen Court
Amanda Jordan
Teen Court Coordinator
Mediation Center of Cape Fear
108-A Cinema Dr.
Wilmington, NC 28403
Phone: (910) 362-8000
Fax: (910) 362-8001
teencourt@wemediate.net

I have had to recall jury duty and assign something new to take its place. The defendant was chronically ill, and her mother kept calling with doctors excuses after missing an assigned jury duty. So to keep her from extending her case over a long period of time, I had her write an essay, detailing her experiences in Teen Court and what she learned from them. The essay I received was actually a wonderful essay, and with the defendant and her mother's permission, one I have shared with many. Another idea may be to have the defendants write scripts, addressing other "would-be defendants" encouraging them to take another path to prevent a need for becoming a TC defendant.

Teen Court Program
Nikki Willett
Teen Court Coordinator
Community Action Program
2105 Lee Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58504
Phone: (701) 258-2240
Fax: (701) 258-2245
teencourt@teencourt.com

We have not had much of a problem, however we do not make it mandatory that the defendant serve on the jury. We leave it up to the juror as to what sentence is given.

Cass County Youth Court
Jason Bergstrand
Youth Court Coordinator
c/o Lutheran Social Services
1325 11th Street So.
Fargo, ND 58107
Phone: (701) 271-3253
Fax: (701) 235-7359
Jbergstrand@lssnd.org

Substitute it with community service-essentially that is what jury duty is, community service to Youth Court. You owe it to the defendant to offer a replacement disposition in a scenario like this. If they hold up to their end of the bargain by getting everything else done then the program owes them a substitute sanction. This should be a coordinators decision to make do not take it before the court again, you would be wasting everyone’s time on a simple solution. Court officers substitute sanctions all the time, it’s a philosophy I call "Take what you can get closest to what you want" You may also want to revisit the idea of making jury duties mandatory. We made jury duties mandatory initially but quickly found out it was not appropriate for many reasons. It is now recommended as one of several options not mandatory. This too would cut down on the amount of kids being backed up. They could do something just as meaningful.

Rio Rancho Teen Court
Cindy Johnson
Special Projects Coordinator
Rio Rancho Municipal Court
P.O. Box 15190
Rio Rancho, NM 87174
Phone: (505) 891-5995
Fax: (505) 891-5990
cjohnson@ci.rio-rancho.nm.us

Regarding the question of how to deal with jury duty assignments and now cases to hear, we have had that very problem here in our court. One solution I have tried with some success is to allow the kids to sit in on an adult court session (Municipal, Magistrate, etc.) and write a brief paper summarizing what they saw. Or you could see if they could sit in on grade court or drug court sessions if those are available nearby and do the same thing. This works especially well during the summer or during school breaks as there is no school conflict.

Ontario County Youth Court
Debbie Holland
Program Coordinator
Partnership for Ontario County
3088 County Complex Drive
Canandaigua, NY 14424
Phone: (585) 396-4519
Fax: (585) 396-8821
deb.holland@co.ontario.ny.us

We do not automatically sentence to jury duty. It is an option for defendants to serve to shorten the length of their CS. We feel that this way we only have jurors who are genuinely interested in serving. Our volunteers think highly of these kids and really encourage them to become YC members. It often works out that way!

Huntington Youth Court
Corinne Lesko
Director
Huntington Youth Bureau
423 Park Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743
Phone: (631) 271-5644
Fax: (631)-271-1360
corecam1121@aol.com

On the rare occasion that someone can't do the jury duty, we have assigned them to take part in another activity, like attend a workshop or youth court event.

Saratoga County Youth Court
Kristen Trapalis
The Prevention Council
36 Phila Street
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Phone: (518) 581-1230
Fax: (518) 581-1240
kristen@preventioncouncil.org

Unfortunately I do not have a solution for you, as we don't face a similar problem. We have a fairly steady caseload due to the fact that we serve nine municipalities in the county. What I can suggest, however, is that you limit the number of jury duties an offender is sentenced to (the one or two required terms) and find alternative sentencing options...community service, classes, letters of apology, essays, etc.

Bethel Teen Court
Bruce Steinmetz
Program Supervisor
City of Eugene
Petersen Barn Community Center870 Berntzen Road
Eugene, OR 97402
Phone: (541) 682-6376
Fax:( 541) 682-8192
bruce.h.steinmetz@ci.eugene.or.us

I think you probably ask a question pertinent to many programs. My first thought is that, if this is a recurring problem, you may need to revise your sentence guidelines. I agree that jury duty is very important. But I also want defendants to be able to complete in a reasonable time. It seems unfair to me to hold a person's case open incomplete for months for reasons that are beyond his or her control. Also, if the jury pool of defendants gets too large with backed-up cases, it leaves little room on the juries for our trained volunteers. We therefore maximize at 3 the number of jury nights a person will actually be asked to serve. Some people may not agree with this but it seems to work for us. On a few occasions, when a person has served at least 2, I have "suspended" one jury duty if the opportunity just isn't there for the youth. Or I have required the youth to be present for court, help with set-up, and be available as an alternate, etc. if we have court but too many jurors. Once or twice, when the person has moved to somewhere that has no youth courts, I have had them attend any other court hearing in that location and write a report. All of these are fairly rare occurrences, though, since the limit of 3 is usually not a problem to meet in this program. Recalling a jury would be the most democratic way to go, but it would be virtually impossible here to get the same group of jurors who heard the testimony back together again.

Greater Jefferson Community Youth Peer Court
Debra Linhart
Coordinator
P. O. Box 911
Jefferson, OR 97352
Phone: (541) 327-2822
Fax: (541) 327-2279
jeffersonypc@excite.com

When I have a slow period with no disposition hearings on the docket, I contact neighboring Peer Court programs to see if they can accommodate my offenders as jurors in their court. Likewise, I make my court available to nearby Peer Courts. I have never recalled a jury to recommend alternative sanctions; however, once in lieu of Peer Court jury duty I had an offender observe a Municipal Court hearing and submit a report.

La Pine Teen Court
Mary Fleischmann
Program Coordinator

From time to time this happens as some of the cases I receive for the Diversion program are not eligible for teen court. What I do with these youth is one of two things. I have a regular set time for court and do a mock hearing, using old cases, but changing names and some of the situations. This gives these jurors an opportunity to still experience the teen court process. Sometimes I will simply do a more extensive training with that time and credit youth for their time. The mock hearing aspect is a good way to get the jury duty done, and for the youth to still go through the process.

Sioux Empire Teen Court
Milo Jackson
Teen Court Coordinator
Sioux Council Boy Scouts of America
3200 West 49th Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57106
Phone: (605) 361-2697 ext. 108
Fax: 605-361-2381
mijackso@bsamail.org

I have never turned away anyone that comes to serve on a Jury. As long as we have a case, we can have a jury. How often are you holding court? We are having court twice per week here in Sioux Falls, SD.

Allen Teen Court
Elizabeth Walsh
Coordinator
c/o Allen Municipal Court
1 Butler Circle
Allen, TX 75013
Phone: (972) 727-0210
Fax: 972-727-0104
lwalsh@cityofallen.org

In Allen Teen Court, if a teen has completed his community service hours within his given 90 days, but has not completed his jury terms and the reason is because we (Allen Teen Court) have not had enough trials, then our Judge will extend their time in order for them to complete their jury terms. Elizabeth Walsh, Allen Teen Court Coordinator.

Hurst-Euless-Bedford Teen Court
Debbie Carlisle
Coordinator
2000 Forest Ridge Drive
Bedford, TX 76021
Phone: (817) 952-2468
Fax: 817-952-2463
dcarlisle@ci.bedford.tx.us

Great topic as we have finally gotten our similar situation to a satisfactory level! In reference to the juries - when I took over three years ago some teens were being given as many as 14 jury terms by their peers! After several trial and errors over the years we have finally whittled it down to where everyone gets 3 jury duties across the board - regardless of their level of offense. We were finding that we didn't have enough cases to use all of the jurors, some had so many that they were in our program for up to six months just to finish their jury terms and many were losing interest after the third time so the window for "teachable moments" was closing quickly! Now the teens come to jury duty fresh and excited and ready to really listen to the cases and work together in deliberation and they ALL serve their 3 terms. One possibility is to have the teens go observe adult court - although they cannot participate as a juror they are still gaining exposure to the judicial system. If there is a small court whereby the cases are heard within an hour (municipal court, small claims, etc) perhaps the judge or counsels can talk to the teens and answer questions. Another suggestion I would give is to decrease the number of jury terms assessed by the jury or, as in our situation, give a set number of jury terms regardless of the level offense.

College Station Teen Court
Peggy Calliham
Coordinator
PO Box 9960
College Station, TX 77842
Phone: (409) 764-3499
Fax: 409-764-3894
pcalliham@ci.college-station.tx.us

Yes we have had the problem. I do a Master Jury and will let them sit on those and sometimes they can get several done per night. It is not the ideal situation but it works. Having them come back 7 nights would take half the year. Just have to make some accommodations and move on.

Duncanville Teen Court
Olivia Harrington
Teen Court Coordinator
City of Duncanville
P.O. Box 380280
Duncanville, TX 75138-0280
Phone: (972) 780-5063
Fax: (972) 780-6463
oharrington@ci.duncanville.tx.us

We limit our jury duties to 3 evenings. And most of the time they are able to complete in their 90 days. Occasionally one will miss some of our court dates because of major conflicts, like vacations, or sports, etc. Fortunately we in the DFW metroplex have worked out a transfer for the teens to do their jury duty in another Teen Court and bring back proof from that court. We let the teens choose from at least 4 dates and there is usually at least one more date in their 90 days as fall back. BUT we also only have 42 seats in the courtroom for the jury pool, so when those seats are filled they are sent away. Most of those are volunteers who are doing this on a first time basis and they come back another time. Also, they are usually the ones who show up too late to get in, so I don’t feel bad about turning them away. That is their fault and not ours.

Hedwig Village Teen Court
Beth Staton
955 Piney Point Road
Houston, TX 77024
Phone: (713) 465-6009
Fax: (713) 465-6807
admin@thecityofhedwigvillage.com

We've not done this yet, but a suggestion was made that a defendant with a lesser class citation be given the option of a jury trial with the guarantee that the jury would only consider community service hours on the range of punishment available for that violation. I think that the best way to coordinate this would be to tell all defendants that their participation may lead to a jury trial but only with the range of punishment available for their offense that way if you don't have a violation that automatically receives a jury trial you don't have to make phone calls and ask for someone's cooperation. You tell them up from and then choose your case. Saves time.

Irving Teen Court
Jean Griffin
Coordinator of Court Services - Teen Court
P.O. Box 152288
Irving, TX 75015-2288
Phone: (972) 721-3601
Fax: (972) 721-2389
jgriffin@ci.irving.tx.us

In our Teen Court, the maximum number of jury terms required for a defendant is two (2)...partially because we have a pretty large base (1700 cases a year)), but partially because we feel the jury duty is meant to be educational and requiring it once or twice fulfills that objective. We truly do not want it considered as "punishment". We recognize this is a somewhat different approach, but it has worked very well for our program. We do have a number of teens who volunteer for our juries regularly, in order to fulfill requirements for other organizations for volunteer service in the community. Additionally, if teens need just a few hours to complete their c/s hours and wish to come back for an additional jury term beyond their required number, we will allow them to get three (3) hours community service credit for each additional term. Those hours don't mount up very fast since we have court only twice/mo., so it isn't practical for someone to do very much of their c/s that way.

Lewisville/Flower Mound Teen Court
Anne Dubinsky
Teen Court Coordinator
City of Lewisville
P.O. Box 299002
Lewisville, TX 75029
Phone: (972) 219-3671
Fax: (972) 219-3414
adubinsk@cityoflewisville.com

This is only a suggestion-the maximum number of jury terms we ever impose is 4. Jury duty is designed to be educational rather than punitive. I believe after 4 times of serving on a jury, the youth has fulfilled the intention. Perhaps putting a cap on the maximum number of jury terms will help.

Denton County Teen Court
Deborah Hollifield
Teen Court Coordinator
6301 Main Street, Ste. 100
The Colony, TX 75056
Phone: (972) 434-7200
Fax: (972) 434-7201
dhollifield@co.denton.tx.us

We let them serve their jury duty in any Teen Court, so they sometimes do it at other nearby programs. We also have a pamphlet on the history of the jury system that we sometimes have them read, and then we have a pass-fail test we give them - mostly to prove they actually read the pamphlet. I don't think I'd try to recall the jury - sounds like it would just make more trouble than it fixed.

Wichita County Teen Court
Myra Weeks
Coordinator
Wichita County Courthouse
900 7th Street, Room 212
Wichita Falls, TX 76301-2482
Phone: (940) 716-8575
Fax: (940) 766-8177
Myra.Weeks@co.wichita.tx.us

We don't have the problem of hearings for jurors to serve. We have had other problems though. I have used the 2 training videos and questionnaires that are on the national web-site. It is ideally for volunteers, but I had kids leaving for college or visiting non-custodial parents this summer. You get the e-mail if they complete the online training, etc. Also, if internet access is a problem, I have a few videos on DWI and other constructive topics that I assign with an essay. If you have several, you could use the VHS copy of Getting the Most out of the Deliberation Process and just "hold court" in a virtual manner.

Granite Falls Youth Court
Susan Goettsch
Coordinator
101 E. Pioneer
Monroe, WA 98252
Phone: (360) 691-1300
Fax: (360) 691-3197
sgoettsch@bgcsnoco.org

If we have respondents that show up for jury duty and there are no cases scheduled I try to offer a training for everyone that contains important information for all involved. This may include doing a mock trail and having the jury come up with a sentence that includes restorative justice principles. We may talk about how our system works vs. the juvenile justice system (we do school violation cases). It takes some pre-planning, but it is important to have some type of plan - just in case. This would count toward their jury duty.

University Place Youth Court
Ann Francis
c/o Community Prosecutor, University Place
3631 74th Avenue W, Suite A
University Place, WA 98466
Phone: (253) 798-7836
Fax: (253) 798-4867
AFRANCI@co.pierce.wa.us

In answer to your request for information about jury duties, our program also requires jury service as part of a sentence. We have no shortage of referrals now, but we had some slow times in the beginning. So, we staged mock hearings to give the volunteers a chance to practice, and also to give the respondent jurors a chance to see how to develop a constructive sentence using restorative justice principles, and what some options might be (essays, letters of apology, mentoring, job shadowing, etc.). The Youth Court Training Guide has two cases that you could use as mock hearings, and perhaps you could even get your volunteers to help create case reports and case materials. I have not ever recalled a jury to give additional sentencing elements to a respondent.

LaCrosse County Peer Court
Bobbie Tippery
Peer Court Coordinator
Boys & Girls Club of Greater LaCrosse
1331 Clinton St.
LaCrosse, WI 54603
Phone: (608) 784-3345
Fax: (608) 782-3933
Bee85_@hotmail.com

In our program we only mandate one jury duty, with a "limit" of four (they can volunteer for more and often do). We do not have an alternative to the jury duties because they are essential to the Peer Court process. However, I would feel at least one jury duty would suffice, along with an essay or something in lieu of additional jury duties.

Sheboygan County Teen Court
Jeanne Jentsch
Program Manager
Lutheran Social Services
1337 N. Taylor Drive
Sheboygan, WI 53081
Phone: (920) 803-6322
Fax: (920) 458-5670
jjentsch@lsswis.org

We have substituted 2 hours of community service for 1 jury term.

Celeste Leider
Advocate
Waupaca County Teen Court
811 Harding Street
Waupaca, WI 54891
Phone: (715) 258-6450
Fax: (715) 258-6902
celeste123@centurytel.net

We would have our kids do 2-4 jury duties, which they usually could complete in one night. We would use a peer panel and have up to 8 cases in one evening- running two courtrooms at the same time. In a few instances when the cases would be a lesser number, we would have to have them return. Have you considered an alternate activity when it is not possible to complete the jury duties or reducing the requirement so the maximum is a lower number?

Monongalia County Teen Court
Christopher (C.W.) Mullins
Teen Court Coordinator
235 High Street, Room 311
Morgantown, WV 26505
Phone: (304) 292-1236
Monteencourt@hotmail.com

I have had this same exact problem this summer. I didn't have any cases the entire month of August, and many of my defendants needed jury duties to complete their teen court sentence. I decided that I would allow them extra time on their sentence to complete the jury duties only if they completed all other aspects of the sentence (community service, essays..etc.). If they didn't have this done by our 3 month cut off date, I returned them to the probation office as incomplete. I only had one defendant who ended up returning to probation. The rest got everything else done and waited until I received more referrals and have set up hearings. Wednesday night I had 4 people finish their last jury duty that they had been waiting on since July. I thought about assigning more Community service hours instead of waiting for the Jury duties, but I feel that the learning and experience of seeing other defendants on the stand is far too valuable to forgo.

Green River Teen Court
Peggy Beckum
Municipal Judge
City of Green River
50 East Second Street North
Green River, WY 82935
Phone: (307) 872-6116
Fax: (307) 872-0567
pbeckum@cityofgreenriver.org

I allow the juries to sentence jury duty, but I only allow them to sentence them to jury duty once. We have other options for sentencing besides jury duty, i.e. counseling in group sessions (a session called CHOICES) essays, monetary fines, work restitution, etc. Do not allow the jury to sentence jury duty beyond one time.

Andrea Williams
AndreaW2@ca.cjis20.org

If there are not enough jury duties to serve, then we convert the number of hours of jury duty to community service. i.e. 2 jury duties equal 6 hours of community service.

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