Who Benefits from Teen Court?

The Community and City
Teen Court provides a structured volunteer force to non-profit organizations and agencies, saving these entities thousands of dollars in labor costs each year. Teen Court gives teens and adults a way to work together, thereby providing adults the means to become educated as to the excellent citizens most teens really are.

Additionally, Teen Court provides a positive, meaningful alternative in which police officers may have confidence that the defendant will take responsibility for their actions.

The Defendant
Teen Court gives the teen defendant a way to take responsibility and make restitution themselves (rather than parents paying the fines). It gives teenagers an opportunity to experience the satisfaction of contributing to the community while gaining valuable work experience. The teen also has a chance to become acquainted with the judicial system.

The Teen Volunteers
Teen Court gives teen volunteers (those who choose to be attorneys, bailiffs, jurors, and court clerks) the opportunity to experience the legal system first hand on a continuing basis and possibly influences career choices. It gives them an avenue where teens from all schools, backgrounds, and abilities learn about each other in the process of working together. Teen Court also gives interested teens the opportunity to receive recognition and find a new level of success in an activity that is not based on academics, but on character traits of responsibility, dependability, honesty, cooperation, etc.