Once the Judge or agency handling your case assigns you to Teen Court, the Teen Court office will handling the entire process of Teen Court, including setting and hearing the case, monitoring and verifying the sentence, and reporting back to the Judge or agency whether or not the program was successfully completed.

Overview

Teen Court is a voluntary program for people who have plead guilty or no contest to a crime, and who have been referred by a Judge or other authority to Teen Court for the handling of the case.

The Teen Court process includes four major steps:

1. Referral
2. Hearing & Sentence
3. Completion of Sentence
4. Final Report

Hearing & Sentence

Once the case is referred to Teen Court, a hearing will be set (almost always in the evening time) for the case to be heard. A number of formats may be used, but in all cases, the sentence will be deliberated and decided by other teens. The sentence range will be determined by the referring entity. The following forms must be turned in at the Teen Court (blank copies will be provided at the hearing, but completed forms will expedite the hearing of the case):

Completion of Sentence

Once the sentence is decided, the defendant may begin completing the elements of the sentence. One requirement, if any community service is issued, will be that the defendant must return at least once to serve as a Teen Court juror. Defendants are responsible for tracking their community service and turning in proof of completion of all sentence requirements by the due date.

Final Report

After the deadline to complete the sentence is passed the Teen Court office will review the file and determine if the defendant successfully completed the program. A report will be sent to the referring entity who will formally dispose of the case.