GADSDEN COUNTY TEEN COURT PREPARES FOR FIRST RUN ........................
Date Posted:6/27/07


The Gadsden County Sheriff's Office Community Justice Program cordially invites the community to come out and experience the "Coming Out" of Gadsden County's Teen Court Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. in the courthouse annex. Teen Court is a sentencing hearing conducted by trained teen attorneys from the local middle and high schools that volunteer randomly each Tuesday night to serve jury duty. Everyone involved in the courtroom proceeding is a teenager except for the judge, who is a bar-certified attorney or an actual judge, who volunteers to oversee the proceedings. The Teen Court Program offers youthful offenders an alternative to prosecution through the juvenile justice system. If a child is given the opportunity to participate in Teen Court, they are being offered the chance to have the original charge(s) against them dismissed, thereby avoiding a record of prosecution and conviction. Teen Court currently accepts referrals from the State Attorney's Office, the Court and the Department of Juvenile Justice under the diversionary aspect.

This event is to begin publicizing throughout Gadsden County to inform the community that Teen Court will begin accepting referrals from parents, guardians, and schools. Accepting community referrals will be a crossing point in the intervention aspect of Teen Court. To learn more and see this program in action, come out, support and see what this program has to offer to the teens and their families in the Gadsden County Community.