Teen Court

 Teen Courts are specialized diversion programs for young offenders.  The youth referred to Lincoln County’s Teen Court can be 12 to 16 years old, in trouble with the police for the first time, and charged with a non-violent offense.  Teen court offers these youth an alternative to the regular juvenile court process.  Rather than going to juvenile court and risking formal prosecution and possible adjudication, a young offender can go through teen court and avoid what might have been the first stain on his or her legal record.

In return, however, a young person in teen court is almost certain to get a rather stiff sentence.  Many are required to do community service, write apology letters to their parent(s) and the victim of their  offense, and perhaps an essay about the effects of crime on the community.  Often, they must attend an educational training class that is pertinent to his/her offense.  Teen court sanctions are    designed to do more than simply punish the offender.  They encourage young offenders to restore at least part of the damages their behavior caused to the community or to specific victims.  The primary function of Teen Court is to determine a fair and restorative sentence or disposition for the youth respondent

Why is it Effective?

• As reported by parents of youthful offenders, this program uses positive peer pressure to hold the youthful offender accountable.  It seemed to have greater power over the youth because they had to answer to their peers.
• Sanctions given are restorative in nature and help the youth restore the relationships that may have been damaged or gives the youth a greater sense of being valued community.
• This program focuses on educating the respondent to make better decision in the future.  It allows them to keep their record clean and feel they can still be part of the community.
• The youth respondent and the panel members are around the same age and from the same school making the program very real to holding them accountable to their peers.
• Panel members are trained to ask open-ended, non-confrontational, probing questions to gain trust, make the youth think and to get to the heart of the problem so they can identify the key issue and address it and not just punish the crime. 

Please contact Amanda at 715-539-1080, if you have any questions or would like more information.