- Home
- What's New
- The Ryan Project Blog
- Mission and Goals
- Upcoming Meetings/ Events
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Archives
- Teen Court Page
- Links and Resources
- Donate To The Ryan Project
If you would like to volunteer to the Teen Court as an attorney, juror or bailiff, fill out the appropriate form below and follow the directions. You must be in high school in order to volunteer.
For more information about participating in Teen Court, please contact Hugene Purdy at trcmfgbcf@sbcglobal.net
No prior training is necessary to be a juror. Aspiring attorneys will be paired with a seasoned, experienced attorney for hands-on training.
The Little Elm Teen Court holds sessions on the third and fourth Monday of the month at 6. It is highly recommended that attorneys be present at least 30 minutes prior.
Volunteer
Attorney
Bailiff
For more information about participating in Teen Court, please contact Hugene Purdy at trcmfgbcf@sbcglobal.net
No prior training is necessary to be a juror. Aspiring attorneys will be paired with a seasoned, experienced attorney for hands-on training.
The Little Elm Teen Court holds sessions on the third and fourth Monday of the month at 6. It is highly recommended that attorneys be present at least 30 minutes prior.
Volunteer
Attorney
Bailiff
About Teen Court in Little Elm
Town of Little Elm Teen Court
In Texas, the concept of Teen Court provides a voluntary alternative to, or ―sentencing arm of, the Municipal and Justice of the Peace courts. In communities that offer it, young people, ages ten through seventeen years, and others enrolled in high school, who have Class C misdemeanor offenses and enter a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest), may request permission of the court to go before a jury of their peers to receive their ―sentence. The verdicts usually rendered in Teen Courts include a specific number of hours of community service and at least one jury term, in lieu of paying the fine and having the offense(s) go on their record. If the requirements are completed within ninety days of the Teen Court date, the case is automatically dismissed, no fine is collected (although payment of court costs and/or an administrative fee may be required), and the offense does not show as a conviction on the youth’s record. Thus this
activity provides an educational opportunity through which youths may take responsibility for their actions, while receiving a ―second chance.
Texas has had Teen Courts of all shapes and sizes come and go through the years. So, the concept of young people participating in the adjudication of offenses of their peers is not new. However, the process, entitled ―Teen Court in Texas, as we know it today, has been refined and improved considerably from earlier versions. One specific change in the concept that differentiates more recent programs from predecessors is the recognition that an adult staff position gives the program stability, continuity and follow-up capabilities—all so important for continued success.
Each community with a program has based it on the statutes (in the Criminal and Family Codes). Much
networking goes on among programs, so it is not necessary to totally "reinvent the wheel" when a new one is being developed. Even so, each program is unique after being modified to meet the needs of its specific community. There are funding differences, organizational differences, and a variety of approaches in relationships within the community (i.e., police department, school district, court administrators, and Town Council). All of these affect the Teen Court, from its inception to its growth and success.
The legislature wrote the Teen Court concept into the Criminal and Family Codes in the 1980's. The statutes are found in the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 45.55, as well as in the Family Code, Section 54.032. During almost every session since that time, there have been bills introduced to refine the concept. For example, some amendments were passed allowing individual courts the discretion to decide whether to charge any court costs or administrative fees and even whether to increase the original ten dollar administrative fee to twenty dollars. The statutes were also amended to allow the ninety day extension for completing the program to begin with the teen court date, instead of the date the plea was entered.
Operation of the Teen Court is managed by a staff of adult volunteers. The most successful programs, however, employ a paid Teen Court Coordinator to oversee the program. The Teen Court proceedings are then handled mostly by teen volunteers...attorneys, bailiffs and jurors are made up of teenagers. While some of the jurors are those defendants completing the requirements of their own sanctions, many are volunteers who participate on their own or to receive community service hours for youth programs/organizations that require community service as part of membership (e.g. National Honor Society).
The development of the Teen Court program in Little Elm was initiated by The Ryan Project with the assistance of Denton County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace, Judge James R. DePiazza. The Ryan Project Teen Court Committee, chaired by Judge DePiazza, is currently working with the Little Elm Town Council to approve Teen Court as a Town sponsored program. A work session was held in July and now only needs Town Council approval at a regular council session. At the work session, Judge DePiazza presented an option that would allow the Town to pay a coordinator through court costs. This would allow a Teen Court Coordinator salary to be funded without the use of taxpayer dollars.
Little Elm Teen Court will be held on the 3rd and 4th Monday’s of the month from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. Success of this program is dependent upon both teens and adults volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 office at 972-434-7200. You can also send an e-mail from the JP2 Website at http://www.DentonCounty.com/JP2.
In Texas, the concept of Teen Court provides a voluntary alternative to, or ―sentencing arm of, the Municipal and Justice of the Peace courts. In communities that offer it, young people, ages ten through seventeen years, and others enrolled in high school, who have Class C misdemeanor offenses and enter a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest), may request permission of the court to go before a jury of their peers to receive their ―sentence. The verdicts usually rendered in Teen Courts include a specific number of hours of community service and at least one jury term, in lieu of paying the fine and having the offense(s) go on their record. If the requirements are completed within ninety days of the Teen Court date, the case is automatically dismissed, no fine is collected (although payment of court costs and/or an administrative fee may be required), and the offense does not show as a conviction on the youth’s record. Thus this
activity provides an educational opportunity through which youths may take responsibility for their actions, while receiving a ―second chance.
Texas has had Teen Courts of all shapes and sizes come and go through the years. So, the concept of young people participating in the adjudication of offenses of their peers is not new. However, the process, entitled ―Teen Court in Texas, as we know it today, has been refined and improved considerably from earlier versions. One specific change in the concept that differentiates more recent programs from predecessors is the recognition that an adult staff position gives the program stability, continuity and follow-up capabilities—all so important for continued success.
Each community with a program has based it on the statutes (in the Criminal and Family Codes). Much
networking goes on among programs, so it is not necessary to totally "reinvent the wheel" when a new one is being developed. Even so, each program is unique after being modified to meet the needs of its specific community. There are funding differences, organizational differences, and a variety of approaches in relationships within the community (i.e., police department, school district, court administrators, and Town Council). All of these affect the Teen Court, from its inception to its growth and success.
The legislature wrote the Teen Court concept into the Criminal and Family Codes in the 1980's. The statutes are found in the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 45.55, as well as in the Family Code, Section 54.032. During almost every session since that time, there have been bills introduced to refine the concept. For example, some amendments were passed allowing individual courts the discretion to decide whether to charge any court costs or administrative fees and even whether to increase the original ten dollar administrative fee to twenty dollars. The statutes were also amended to allow the ninety day extension for completing the program to begin with the teen court date, instead of the date the plea was entered.
Operation of the Teen Court is managed by a staff of adult volunteers. The most successful programs, however, employ a paid Teen Court Coordinator to oversee the program. The Teen Court proceedings are then handled mostly by teen volunteers...attorneys, bailiffs and jurors are made up of teenagers. While some of the jurors are those defendants completing the requirements of their own sanctions, many are volunteers who participate on their own or to receive community service hours for youth programs/organizations that require community service as part of membership (e.g. National Honor Society).
The development of the Teen Court program in Little Elm was initiated by The Ryan Project with the assistance of Denton County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace, Judge James R. DePiazza. The Ryan Project Teen Court Committee, chaired by Judge DePiazza, is currently working with the Little Elm Town Council to approve Teen Court as a Town sponsored program. A work session was held in July and now only needs Town Council approval at a regular council session. At the work session, Judge DePiazza presented an option that would allow the Town to pay a coordinator through court costs. This would allow a Teen Court Coordinator salary to be funded without the use of taxpayer dollars.
Little Elm Teen Court will be held on the 3rd and 4th Monday’s of the month from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. Success of this program is dependent upon both teens and adults volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 office at 972-434-7200. You can also send an e-mail from the JP2 Website at http://www.DentonCounty.com/JP2.
