Pinal Today

A teen court being considered by the Maricopa City Council likely will not move forward because of problems with jurisdictional issues, according to a committee exploring the possibility.

Teen court allows juveniles to have incidents adjudicated by their peers rather than in court. According to a story by InMaricopa, youth volunteers act as prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and juries in teen court, as well as issuing punishments such as writing apology letters to victims or volunteering in the community. Unfortunately, officials said the city couldn't support a teen court.

“Pinal County was able to offer it because of its Juvenile Court Services Division," Maricopa Organizational Health Supervisor Durel Williams said in the story. "The school resource officer is responsible to make all referrals to teen court, but a city-sponsored teen court program would lack jurisdictional authority that is available through county Juvenile Court Services and its probation officers."

Teen courts allow perpetrators avoid a criminal record that could jeopardize college applications, jobs and other prospects, the story said.

The committee found that ARS Title 8, Chapter 3 regarding juvenile offenders, and ARS 8-321 presented jurisdictional problems for the city. Williams voiced those concerns at the city meeting on Nov. 15, the story said, but others at the meeting were disappointed the idea was dismissed so quickly.

“It is problematic to me that there wasn’t a single legal professional involved in this decision to kill the teen court,” Jeffrey Traversino, an attorney with a practice in Maricopa, said in the story. “It seemed like there were a lot of people up there interpreting the statute who were not attorneys. I spoke to the city attorney after the meeting, and he said he wasn’t in these meetings.

“A lot of people who make these decisions have said they are proponents of teen court, but they are the ones who kept the city from moving forward on it," Traversino said. "It felt like they wanted it to seem like they were for it, but then didn’t really support it.” 

Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer said teen courts have long-lasting positive effects.

“Those kids who enter that program, the chances of them ending up in the criminal-justice system are very remote,” he said in the story “It is only 10 or 12 percent who do. The benefit to the community is having kids being held responsible by their peers. 

"Juvenile crime typically is nuisance stuff like shoplifting, disorderly conduct or fighting – things that make people feel less safe than they would otherwise," Volkmer explained. "This ensures (lawbreakers) are held accountable by their peers and creates a safer, more tight-knit community.”

Maricopa Mayor Nancy Smith also supported teen court.

“I think it’s a great way to keep minor things off kids’ records,” Smith said in the story. “The more people I talked to who have experience with teen court, the more I saw the advantages. In many places it is done within the school system. They create a club around it and kids that have an interest in being lawyers, judges or counselors, it gives them an activity for their college application resume.”

Smith said her only worry would be concerns over privacy and security.

“We would need to seriously look at the confidentiality of the program because many parents don’t want their kids’ private issues to become public knowledge,” Smith said. “Even though the kids are sworn to secrecy, it’s really hard to control that, and if people see their information starting to get out, that would wreck the program. But I know there are successful teen courts both in and out of schools, so I like it but I’m a big privacy advocate.”

Council member Amber Liermann said that if the city can't run a teen court, a school-run option might work.

“In a school program, the referrals would come from dean of students,” she said in the story. “So, if a student gets a 10-day, out-of-school suspension for fighting or vaping, for example, they could be referred by the dean to teen court and keep their school record clean and not show a suspension. Teen court has a very restorative goal, and that aligns with the health and wellness goals of the district in terms of serving the whole student.”

Participating in teen court has other benefits to volunteers, Liermann said.

“Youth who are leaders and want to pursue careers within the judicial system, like becoming an attorney, judge or law-enforcement professionals, can use this to bolster their resume or college application,” she added. “It provides leadership opportunities and builds skills that will benefit them in their careers. It also provides opportunities for them to be connected to other resources that can help with college applications. There are a lot of great things about this program.”