To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Kristin Read, Assistant Town Manager
Title
Discussion/Direction: Castle Rock Teen Court
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
Castle Rock Municipal Court successfully operated a Teen Court program starting in 2007. The program has been on pause since August 2021 due to a decline in juvenile cases filed with the court. Councilmembers recently have expressed interest in seeing the program running again, regardless of case volumes. The purpose of this memo is to outline staff’s plan for reactivating the Town’s Teen Court program for Council’s discussion and direction.
Discussion
Teen Court is a community-based program that provides an alternative to the traditional justice system for first-time, nonviolent juvenile offenders. It operates on restorative justice principles of accountability, learning and community safety.
The creation and operation of teen courts is governed by the Colorado Teen Court Program Act, Title 19, Article 2.5, Part 10, C.R.S. As a “supervising court” within the meaning of the Act, Castle Rock Municipal Court is authorized to establish a teen court program. Subject to the determination of the Municipal Judge, a teen charged with a minor criminal offense may enter a guilty plea and receive a deferred judgment, a condition of which is successful participation in the teen court program.
The program provides volunteer opportunities for youth ages 12 to 18 to serve as jury members for their peers’ cases. Between 2008 and 2020 - the full years of the Town’s program’s operations - an average of about 60 cases were heard annually in Teen Court, as shown in the graph. Beginning in 2018, the court has seen a drop-off in juvenile filings in general and, accordingly, in Teen Court cases.
Teen Court heard 29 cases in 2019, which is about one-third of the cases heard in the peak year of 2010, which saw 83 cases. Those years had 139 and 200 total juvenile filings, respectively. Comparatively, the court in 2021 saw 57 total juvenile filings, with six Teen Court cases through July. Through first quarter 2022, Castle Rock Municipal Court has had 17 total juvenile filings; seven of those cases may have been eligible for Teen Court.
Because of these case trends, staff did not seek to fill the part-time Teen Court Coordinator position when it became vacant in August 2021. In addition to this vacancy, the Court currently has a full-time vacancy for a Court Technician. Staff proposes seeking one candidate to fill both the Teen Court and Municipal Court roles. The hiring salary range for this position would generally be $25 to $30 an hour. Municipal Court has the budget capacity for the position, including benefits, and intends to post the vacancy yet this month, given Council’s interest in seeing the Teen Court program running. Staff can hope to have a new coordinator on board within a few months, if the recruitment effort is successful.
In addition to a staff member, reactivating Teen Court will require volunteers. Teen Court had about 15 active volunteers when the program was paused in August 2021. Staff will reach out to those volunteers to see if they are interested in continuing their participation and will also endeavor to recruit and train new volunteers. Any teen volunteering with the court must complete 16 hours of general legal training. Staff intends to hold volunteer training in July, prior to local students returning to school in August.
With volunteers and a coordinator on board, staff could have Teen Court available to hear any qualifying cases starting in August. In addition to the cost of the position, the program requires some minor supply costs.
Within Douglas County, Lone Tree and Parker also operate teen court programs. Lone Tree’s program currently has five active cases out of 10 potentially eligible for teen court. Parker’s teen court does not currently have any eligible cases.
One note of general interest regarding this issue is that State law was changed in 2017 to automatically expunge low-level juvenile cases from respondents’ records once their sentences are completed, including those heard by Castle Rock Municipal and Teen courts. Prior to this change in law, expungement was a complicated process that required a sometimes years-long waiting period, which made alternative juvenile justice models like teen court more attractive to respondents.
Staff has provided this information regarding the plan to reactivate the Town’s Teen Court for Council’s discussion and direction and is glad to answer any questions Council might have about this topic. Staff intends to provide Council another update regarding Teen Court’s status at the end of the third quarter.
Potential Motion
“I move to direct staff to work with the Municipal Judge to reactivate the Town’s Teen Court as outlined.”