Topic: Working With Respondents Age 16 - 18

Question: Does your Youth Court take referrals for the 16 to 18 year old population? We are looking for any help that other courts could give us in this area. We currently do not but are looking to expand to include this age group. However in NY 16 year old are no longer considered juveniles and go into the adult court system. We would like to know what policy and procedures other Youth Courts have in regards to this age group. For example: Where do your referrals come from (i.e. probation, from the courts as a diversion, directly from law enforcement officers, etc.) and how? Have you encountered any issues with a youth court member being on a case where they are younger that the offender and have their been any problems? How do you deal with confidentiality and is it a concern at all? How do you confirm that this youth is really a first time offender?

Responses from Coordinators:

Elkhart County Youth Service Bureau
Tracy Bullock
Teen Court Coordinator
222 Middlebury Street
Elkhart, IN 46516
Phone: (219) 294-3549
Fax: (219) 293-1630

16-18 year olds. Elkhart County, Indiana receives cases for ages 9 through 17. I've received 17 year olds that turn 18 even before their sentence contract runs out. I think my success rate is better with the older kids (15-17 years old).

Back to top

Ketchikan Youth Court
Gretchen Klein
221 Plaza Port West
Ketchikan, AK 99901
Phone: (907) 225-2293
ktnyouthcourt@kpunet.net

Ketchikan Youth Court gets misdemeanors cases from Juvenile Probation and Violations from District Court. District Court is traffic violations, smoking, curfew, and minor consuming. A note to make is that Alaska State Law July 1st, 2002 cleaned all records for youth who had committed minor consuming violations before that date. They started with a clean slate. The problem is Ketchikan Youth Court has gotten some of these people who have already had them on their records. We usually find out from client if they ever committed a crime before. We REALLY try to just do first time offenders. We have only been operating for 2 1/2 years so we are still feeling our way around and just started handling cases last December 2000. We have tried to pair up older youth members with the offenders. However, we had 6th and 7th graders as bailiffs to 16-17 year olds. We do not like to do that. We want the older offenders to take the program seriously, and they may not if they see such young people in the courtroom handling their cases. We handle youths who are 16-17 years of age. The majority of minor consuming violations we are referred are this age. However, we have found by this age they have already decided what they are going to do and we aren't going to change their ways.

Back to top

Warren County Youth Court
Dan Boucher
Youth Court Coordinator
Council for Prevention of Alcohol and Substance Abuse
3019 State Route 4., Ste. 2
Hudson Falls, NY 12839
Phone: (518) 746-1527
Fax: (518) 746-1779
warrenctythcrt@yahoo.com
www.councilforprevention.org/youth court.html

I am a youth court coordinator from Warren County, New York. We accept juveniles that are 10 to 18 years old. The 10 to 15 year olds are referred by probation and the 16 to 18 year olds are referred from the criminal courts, the DA's office and from one local police department. If the court tells us that it is the youth's first offense, then we check and make sure that they haven't been through youth court. That is all we can do. Their juvenile records are inaccessible.

Back to top

Amherst Youth Court
Michael Torrillo
Youth Court Coordinator
c/o Amherst Police Department
500 John J. Audubon Parkway
Amherst, NY 14228
Phone: (716) 689-1344
Fax: (716) 689-1310
mtorrillo@adelphia.net

At this time our court does not take anyone over the age of 15. However that may change when, if ever, the new P.I.N.S. law is enacted raising the age of a P.I.N.S. to 18. Our court is structured to deal with Violations that are not admitted in Family Court. We screen all cases that are presented to Youth Court. I have 4 detectives that review the complaints and if they fit the criteria, they go to Youth Court. We generate our own referrals. The detectives screen the cases that are brought in by the patrols. We check with our records or Family Court to ascertain their history and if they do not have any outstanding warrants and have never been petitioned to Family Court they fit the criteria as a first time offender and are eligible for Youth Court. We do not have the problem of a younger Judge than Defendant. We recruit students in the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades from our high schools. They must work through the other positions before they can qualify as a judge. That means our Judges are always older, or the same age as the respondent. During our training process for new candidates we stress the need for confidentiality. We have not had a problem with it. ---Yet.

Back to top

Volusia County Teen Court
Shirley Santillanna
Senior Coordinator
120 West Indiana Avenue
Room 242
Deland, FL 32720
Phone: (904) 822-5703
Fax: (904) 740-5141
ssantillana@circuit7.org

In Deland, Florida (Volusia County) we take students ages 8-18. Children are still juveniles until they reach 18. I have been doing this since 1992 and I have never encountered any problems in reference to the questions that you asked. Our defendants are always introduced to the jury prior to taking the stand. If they know someone they must speak up. We always have a kid that knows if the defendant knows anyone on the jury. I have 7th graders on up prosecuting and defending older students. I have not had a problem with the confidentiality. Volunteers know that they would not be allowed to stay in teen court, and defendants know that their case would be returned for formal court proceedings. Our referrals come from the State Attorney and civil citations and the judge.

Back to top

Autauga County Teen Court
Martha B. Ellis
Director
696 Silver Hills Drive
Prattville, AL 36066
Phone: (334) 358-4900
Fax: (334) 358-4909
teencrt@bellsouth.net

We take 12-17 year olds. No problems. Referrals come from Juvenile Probation Office.

Back to top

Jim Price
New Hanover County Teen Court
Coordinator
Community Mediation Center of Cape Fear, Inc.
108-A Cinema Drive
Wilmington, NC 28403
Phone: (910) 362-8000
Fax: (910) 362-8008
cmcteencourt@aol.com

As in New York, 16 year olds in North Carolina are considered adults for criminal justice purposes. 16 and 17 year olds are still minors for contractual purposes. We treat the 16-18 year olds much the same way we treat the younger kids, requiring the parent/guardian to approve and sign on to the process and to be present at the hearing. Treating these things and confidentiality the same for all age groups avoids confusion and the perception of double standards. The only difference in our program seems to be that the "threat" of adult court for noncompliance is a little more intimidating for the offenders than juvenile court.

Back to top

Oak Lawn Police Department Peer Jury
James Craig
Peer Jury Coordinator
9446 S. Raymond
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Phone: (708) 422-5323
Fax: (708) 422-5012
kidswrestling@juno.com

We use the Peer Jury format. Our offenders are all referred to the Jury by the police dept. Seventeen year olds are considered adults in court cases so we don't get them except in the situation where an individual is 16 at the time of his/her arrest and then turns 17 before we get them into court.

Back to top

Winnebago County Teen Court
Shirley Zahn
Program Coordinator
504 Algoma Boulevard
Oshkosh, WI 54901
Phone: (920) 236-1119
Fax: (920) 303-3030
szahn@co.winnwbago.wi.us

Winnebago County Teen Court does not accept defendants over the age of 16. Seventeen and eighteen year olds are considered adults, and are charged in that system. The county has a program called VIP--Volunteers in Probation--that works with many of the first-time adult offenders. The offender is assessed for appropriateness by the coordinator, and then is sentenced to the program by the judge. The offender is ideally matched with a volunteer from the community who acts like a mentor. This program is a diversion to state probation. If the offender is successful in the program, they have the opportunity to have the charge dismissed, just like in Teen Court.

In answer to your question about a volunteer/jury member being younger than the defendant, that does happen. We have middle school volunteers that are younger than high school defendants. It has not been a problem, since the jury is usually ten people and there is a blend of ages.

To confirm that a youth is a first time offender, I do a background check in the juvenile court clerk's office.

All youth offenders and volunteers sign a confidentiality agreement. If a defendant violates the confidentiality agreement, we can discipline the individual accordingly for violating their Teen Court rules and contract.

If a volunteer violates confidentiality, we can give a first time warning, if appropriate, or remove them from the volunteer list.

Back to top

Orange County Juvenile Peer Court
Gwen Vieau
Executive Director
Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange Co.
17875 Von Karman, Ste 100
Irvine, CA 92614
Phone: (714) 440-6757
Fax: (714) 440-6710
gvieau@crfoc.com

We do take referrals for crimes committed by 16 & 17 year olds, however in California young people are considered adults @ 18 & we do not see 18 year olds unless the crime was committed before their 18th birthday (and we don't see many of them). All our referrals come from probation & they determine whether the offender is a first-timer. We often have younger jurors than the defendants and don't have a problem with that.

Back to top

Brown County Teen Court
Wayne Pauluk
Teen Court Coordinator
1 South State
New Ulm, MN 56073
Phone: (507) 233-6620
Fax: (507) 233-6649
wayne.pauluk@co.brown.mn.us

In Minnesota, a person is a juvenile until they turn 18, so we don't have that problem. As long as the offense is committed before their 18th birthday, they can go to Teen Court, even if they become 18 before Teen Court or while they are on Probation.   Sometimes jury members are younger than the offender, but it has not been a problem for us. I'm not sure what the potential problem is. We have a jury, so the offender isn't dealing with only one juror at a time. Typically our foreperson is experienced and relatively older - 16 to 18, but that hasn't been an issue either. We get referrals from our County Attorney, who verifies that they don't have prior offenses. We have a statewide system, so it's pretty accurate.

Back to top

Delaware Teen Courts, Inc.
Angela Ciampa-Gilbert
Teen Court Coordinator
P.O. Box 1251
Dover, DE 19903
Phone: (302) 698-3264
Fax: (302) 698-3267
deteenct@intercom.net

Delaware Teen Court in Kent County takes referrals up to age 17. They are treated in the same manner as the younger offenders. Our referrals come from the Attorney General's office. They determine who they think are appropriate prior to arraignment, then on arraignment day the prosecutor determines if they are first time offenders by their offense record and make the referral. Age really is not an issue for us.

Back to top

Red Hook Youth Court
Leslie Paik
Youth Court Director
Center for Courts Innovation
351 West 54th Street
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 373-8082
Fax: (212) 397-0985
paikl@communitycourts.org
http://www.communitycourts.org

Does your Youth Court take referrals for the 16 to 18 year old population? We do in Red Hook. We are looking for any help that other courts could give us in this area. We currently do not but are looking to expand to include this age group. However, in NY 16 year olds are no longer considered juveniles and go into the adult court system. We would like to know what policy and procedures other Youth Courts have in regards to this age group.

For example: Where do your referrals come from (i.e. probation, from the courts as a diversion, directly from law enforcement officers, etc.) and how? Our referrals come from the Adult-Criminal court and Family Court Probation, as well as three local police precincts, the community "walk-ins" and local CBO including schools. At this point most of our probation cases have been referred during their adjustment phase but we do anticipate hearing cases with active Family Court involvement. In Red Hook Youth Court, which operates out of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, we have the added bonus of being part of the first multi-jurisdictional court ever. Currently, at the Justice Center we have one Judge that oversees both criminal and family court cases. In the near future he will also hear housing court cases. We at the Youth Court anticipate an increase in youth court referrals from that source once it becomes part of the process.

Have you encountered any issues with a youth court member being on a case where they are younger that the offender and have there been any problems? There have been many instances where the respondent was in fact older then our members. During the intake process staff determine the respondent's eligibility based on their previous criminal history and level of maturity, as well as many other factors. We are also well aware of our member’s capabilities and are cautious when a particular respondent has had many encounters with the police etc. We do not accept any respondent's that have had a previous felony conviction, felony charges that have been reduced are considered on a case by case basis, a pre-existing warrant history (2+), no more than two prior misdemeanor convictions- to name a few of our eligibility criteria.

How do you deal with confidentiality and is it a concern at all? Confidentiality has not been an issue, for court-mandated folks we deal directly with the referral source as far as reporting progress and outcomes. Details of court proceedings are not disclosed. We are also specific about not allowing probation officers sit in on any probation hearings etc.

How do you confirm that this youth is really a first time offender? We discuss as much as we can with the referring source. We have access to rap sheets for criminal court referrals.

Back to top

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

Age 16 has been the highest number of defendants in our court for the past 2 years. Our defendants range in age from 11 to 18 years old. I assign the volunteer attorneys to the cases myself and I match up the volunteer ages as closely as I can. This way, you don't have a 14-year-old attorney defending a 17 year old. I have never had any complaints about age in this regard.

Our referrals come from our Municipal Court only and are Class C misdemeanors (the lowest offenses in Texas). We can only check their background on our court computer and are unable to check any other city/state/county for previous violations (unfortunately).

Confidentiality is not usually an issue. All volunteers and defendants sign an agreement to keep courtroom cases confidential. Our courtroom is open to the public. Rarely do we have observers that are not connected in some way to the court proceedings. Sometimes Boy Scout troops or teachers that are interested will observe court.

Back to top

21st Judicial District
Jennifer Trombla
Teen Court Coordinator
105 Courthouse Plaza
Manhattan, KS 66502
Phone: (785) 565-6641
Fax: (785) 565-6896
jtrombla@co.riley.ks.us

At the 21st Judicial District Teen Court in Manhattan, Kansas we take referrals from age 10 through age 17. All of our referrals come from the County Attorney and several times the Defendant is older than those on the jury. I have never had a problem because there is such a variety of age on the jury that it balances out. I have the jury members sign a confidentiality form when they first arrive and then the adult judge swears them in and covers all of the confidentiality issues. When a police report goes to the Attorney's Office, they print out a criminal history sheet and attach it to the report. This way the Attorney can sort these out from the others and read them first to get referrals to Teen Court quickly.

Back to top

Suwannee County Teen Court
Carol Hingson
Teen Court Coordinator
c/o Clerk of Courts
200 South Ohio Avenue
Live Oak, FL 32060
Phone: (904) 362-0540
Fax: (904) 352-0548
http://www.suwanneeclerkofcourt.com/TEENCOURT.html

Teen Court in Suwannee County, Florida takes juvenile offenders up to the age of 18. A child is considered an adult at age 18, however, if they are suitable for the program (lst offense, misdemeanor), the State Attorney's Office has been known to refer them to us. Our defendants must be enrolled in school to qualify for the program. Usually, our Department of Juvenile Justice recommends a case during arraignment and the State has the option to approve or deny the recommendation. The Judge has the final say as to whether the child will come through Teen Court.

Suwannee County was taking civil citations, direct referrals from law enforcement, and school referrals. However, the State Attorney's Office was not comfortable with that arrangement and we, in an effort to maintain a good working relationship, agreed to accept only those cases referred by the Department of Juvenile Justice/State Attorney's Office. The down side of this, of course, is that each Teen Court participant will have a record of the charge.

There was another problem with civil citations, direct referrals, and school referrals. We do not have access to the state/national criminal system so we were only able to check for priors using our records in Suwannee County. By the time the Department of Juvenile Justice refers a case to us, they have already performed a complete criminal history and have determined there are no priors.

We usually assign youth attorneys that are older than the defendants, but we have a few 14-year old attorneys that are very good and we would not hesitate to assign them to an 18-year old. Usually though, we assign our young defendants to the younger attorneys. We try to fill the courtroom with youth volunteers that are within 2 or 3 years of the defendant; provided they meet our minimum age requirement (13).

We deal with confidentiality by having each defendant and volunteer read and sign an oath of confidentiality, we swear them in at that time, sign and seal the document and place it in their folder, and before each session the Judge administers an oath of confidentiality to the entire courtroom. We have only had one breach many years ago, and that child (volunteer) was brought before the Judge in a "contempt" proceeding and fined ten hours. Now, this is only effective if the youth agrees to go through with the proceeding, which this one did. Her alternative was expulsion from the program. This process has more teeth with the defendants. But like I said, we have not had a problem since then. Also, our sessions are not open to the public. Only authorized volunteers and defendants are permitted in the Courtroom during proceedings.

We are currently developing a youth court for children aged 12 and under. They will only be permitted to hold mock trial sessions until they reach age 13, when they will "graduate" to Teen Court. They will be able to attend Teen Court sessions as part of the learning process, but only as observers. In other words, we are creating a training ground for future Teen Court members. We find that the younger volunteers are much easier to obtain than the high school-aged kids, and if we get them while they are young, they tend to stay on with us until they are seniors. Many of our graduates have come back to assist us as young adults during college breaks and such.

Back to top

Naperville Youth Jury
Jennifer Johnsen
Coordinator
Naperville Police Department
1350 Aurora Avenue
Naperville, IL 60540
Phone: (630) 420-6674
Fax: (630) 305-5918
johnsenj@naperville.il.us

We do allow 16 year olds to come before youth jury, however, in Illinois they are still covered under the Illinois Juvenile Court Act & are not charged as adults. 17 & 18 year olds are considered adults for criminal purposes & would not be permitted to attend youth jury. We receive our referrals from Youth Investigators, who are assigned cases based on a criminal acts that are committed by juveniles.

Our youth jury is made up of High School Students only & there have been times when the juror is 14 years old and the offender is 16 years old...There has never been an issue with the age between juror and offender.

Back to top

Flagler County Teen Court
Marian Irvin
Teen Court Coordinator
201 E. Moody Blvd., Room 138
P.O. Box 787
Bunnell, FL 32110
Phone: (386) 437-7407
Fax: (386) 586-2116
mirvin@clerk.co.flagler.fl.us

Teen Court participants are 10-18 years of age. In the state of Fla. they are still considered juveniles. Referrals come from court as diversions, law enforcement officers and schools (directly). There are times when a person may be placed on a case where they are younger; we have not had a problem with this. Our juvenile Judge explains the importance of confidentiality; we also let them know they may be held in contempt of court if confidentiality is breached. Juvenile Justice face sheets and checking with the clerk’s office juvenile clerk will usually alert if there are prior offenses, but we are a smaller county than most.

Back to top

Charlotte County Teen Court
Andrea J. Williams
Coordinator
c/o Charlotte County Justice Center
350 East Marion Avenue
Punta Gorda, FL 33950
Phone: (941) 637-2281
Fax: (941) 637-2283
http://www.charlotte-flordia.com/community/teen.htm

The referrals that we receive are from the Dept. of Juvenile Justice as a referral, which is also signed off from the State Attorney's office. The youths are first time offenders and are up to the age of 18 and this is determined by DJJ. Some are still in the program when they turn 18 and complete their sanctions during that age. If they committed the offense prior to their 18th birthday, we handle that case. As for confidentiality, the Teen Court youth are given an oath, which they are to honor. If I get word that the oath was broken, and that would be by an offender bringing it to my attention, they I would bring it to the Judge’s attention and he would handle the matter from there. Since our age group varies, 9th grade to 12th grade, some of the offenders are older than the Teen Court participants, but this has posed no problem.

Back to top

Jefferson County Peer Court
Richard Hoke
Program Coordinator
75 Southeast C Street
Madras, OR 97741
Phone: (541) 475-3463
Fax: (541) 475-1632
JFCoadmn@oregon.vos.net

We accept offenders up to 17 so long as they are first time offenders and their offense falls within our authorized list, all nonviolent misdemeanors (as part of our memorandum of collaboration with the juvenile court).

Our referrals come from the Juvenile Department and the municipal court (i.e., bike helmet violation).

Our court has not encountered any problems with age disparity. When I assemble our jury panel I deliberately pull a mixture of age, sex, and court experience.

All youth (and adult) volunteers sign a confidentiality agreement prior to serving on the peer court. In addition, as part of the "swearing in process" the jury and audience verbally accept a confidentiality oath. If a jury member violates the confidentiality he/she can be removed from the Peer Court Program, ordered to appear before the Peer Court or the Youth Advisory Panel, assigned to write a letter of apology to the offender and the court, and/or individually counseled by the Program Director.

Verification of first time offender status usually is done by the Juvenile Department; however, the initial in-take interview with the offender should reveal if the youth has had any previous encounters with a Peer Court program or the Juvenile Department.

Back to top

Syracuse Youth Court
Heath Rogers
Syracuse Police Department
175 S. 200 W.
Syracuse, UT 84075
Phone: (801) 825-1338

This is the Syracuse Utah Youth City Court. We do accept 16-18 year olds. We do only accept 18 year olds if they committed the offence when they were 17. We have had two cases where the defendant has turned 18 and everyone on the youth court was only 16 or younger. We ended up sending one of them to juvenile because they didn't cooperate. But we didn't have any problems with the other case. Our referrals come from the Syracuse Police Department. The police fill out a form and give one copy to the parents and the other they send to us referring the defendant. Confidentiality is a big thing to us. We believe strongly in it. We advise the defendant to not talk about it and assure them that we will not talk about the case. If there is ever someone on the court that we find is breaking confidentiality then they are put onto probation. We keep all of our records so that we may see if they have been to our court and if we are suspicious about the offender then we contact either the school or the parents or someone close to them to try and find out if it is their first offence.

Back to top

Harney County Teen Court
Becky Rose Colahan
Teen Court Coordinator
c/o Harney Co. DA's Office
450 N. Buena Vista
Burns, OR 97720
Phone: (541) 573-8300
Fax: (541) 573-8304
brose@orednet.org

Most of our Teen Court referrals are in this age group. They come from municipal courts (traffic) and the Juvenile department. We only accept violations/infractions and B & C Misdemeanors. Teen court is a type of diversion or informal accountability agreement. I don't think it matters which system them go through adult or juvenile, if the courts buy into your program and it is used as a diversion. As far as first time offender status, this can be checked through the courts and the juvenile departments.

Back to top

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

Wichita County Teen Court does take 16-18. In Texas a youth is considered an adult at 17, however, we have a strong working relationship with the Juvenile Department. We can research a youth's background with their signed permission. We have no problems getting that. If they have a juvenile record, it usually comes up at this time. Our requirements are that they are currently enrolled in an accredited school program seeking a GED or diploma. Therefore, we accept the 18 year olds prior to graduation. Confidentiality is kept the same as if they were juvenile, just for program consistency. To the best of my knowledge, it has never been a problem. They are usually successful and often appreciate the opportunity. Currently, Teen Court is cheaper than Defensive Driving and the Municipal Court does not offer community service other than the opportunity for Teen Court.

Back to top

Cache Valley Peer Court
Sean Marshall
Coordinator
45W 200N
Logan, UT 84321
Phone: (435) 750-7142
Fax: (435) 787-3586
smarshal@ci.logan.ut.us

In Utah, Juveniles are anyone under the age of 18. We include all first offenders under the age of 18 who are involved in lesser crimes. Utah statute defines what offenses are allowed to be sent through peer courts. Referrals to Cache Valley Peer Court (which I coordinate) come directly from the officers from the police departments that are covered by Cache Valley Peer Court. The Juvenile officers have access to all valley databases to determine if a juvenile is a first offender. Juvenile officers also have access to the Utah State JIS (Juvenile Information System), which tracks all juvenile arrests in the State of Utah.

Back to top

Duncanville Teen Court
Olivia Harrington
Teen Court Coordinator
P.O. Box 380280
Duncanville, TX 75138-0280
Phone: (972) 780-5063
Fax: (972) 780-6463
oharrington@ci.duncanville.tx.us
http://www.ci.duncanville.tx.us/teen court.htm

Yes, we take up thru 18 or still enrolled in a secondary school, working toward a diploma. Texas statutes allow for that. They are considered adults at 17, so the older ones have to request Teen Court within 15 days of receiving their ticket. They are then placed on our Juvenile Municipal docket for the Judge to take their plea and start the TC process. Last year 42% of our teens were over 16. Have not had any problems with the ages. They are all mixed up together. All teens sign a confidentiality statement before entering the courtroom and the judge reminds them. So far we have only had 2 problems in 6 years. We check their record in our city and a partial list of county. They are told we do a background check and do not like surprises, so please tell us about any prior contacts with police anywhere. You’d be amazed how many offenses are confessed. Probably not all are, but sometimes quite a few.

Back to top

Whatcom County Teen Court
Cathy Beaty
Northwest Youth Services
1020 North State Street
P.O. Box 5447
Bellingham, WA 98227
Phone: (360) 738-9862 Ext. 130
Fax: (360) 734-4720
cathyb-nwys@uswest.net

We receive all our cases from the Diversion program. The age group of our offenders averages 13 to 17 years of age. We only see 2nd time offenders, and our Teen Court participants are all of high school age. The offender and their parents sign away their right to confidentiality because our Teen Court is an open court session.

Back to top

Teen Court of Brown County
Jill Diedrick
Coordinator
P.O. Box 22308
Green Bay, WI 54305-2308
Phone: (920) 436-4360 ext 1392
Fax: (920) 432-5966
fsteencourt@familyservicesnew.org

Our program receives referrals for offenders ages 12-16 (at 17 in Wisconsin, the offenders are considered adults). We have had about 1000 cases and have never had concerns with the different ages on the jury (the jury members can be 12-18 years old). Confidentiality has not been a problem as everyone signs an oath each night at court and before each case everyone takes a verbal oath of confidentiality. The participants are reminded about confidentiality about 4 times a night. All of our referrals must appear first in municipal court and admit guilt. The court has access to info about the juvenile being a first time offender. Out court is contracted through a private non-profit and therefore we do not have access to any records and rely on the judges and court staff to check the records.

Throughout the years, there have been requests to take 17 year-olds, but we have decided to follow the original policy.

Back to top