Teen Court Featured in State Conference

The City of Georgetown Teen Court was the focus of a professional conference this week as municipal court professionals from across Texas observed Georgetown’s young attorneys and jury members in action.

Municipal court employees from 12 cities watched and learned during a Monday night session of Teen Court with Municipal Court Judge Randy Stump presiding. At Monday’s court session at the Council Chamber and Courts Building, teens presented cases and defended clients in trials about traffic violations, disorderly conduct, a curfew violation, and theft.

The Teen Court Planning Seminar in Georgetown on Monday and Tuesday also included panel sessions on topics such as starting a teen court program, resources for teen courts, and funding. The conference was sponsored by the Texas Municipal Court Education Center.

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Students who served as Teen Court attorneys at Monday’s court session are pictured above. Front row, left to right are Haleigh Blackwell, Lisa Carlton, Tristan Martinez, Ginny Stuart, Taylor Winden, Michelle Kuroda, Austin Stevens, and Kyle Jenkins. Back row, left to right are Ally Barron, Gabby Hernandez, Stefanie Schutz, Jessica Sovereen, Winston Cole, Jack Walters, Travis Temple, Zach Ford, Jacob Solis, Judge Randy Stump, and Tina Heine, deputy court clerk and juvenile case manager for Georgetown Municipal Court. Teen attorneys not pictured include Tim Cole, Tori Hansen, Emily Henry.

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Attendees at the two-day Teen Court Planning Seminar are pictured above with City of Georgetown officials and Municipal Court employees.

Students from Georgetown High School and East View High School volunteer their time to serve as attorneys and jury members for Georgetown Teen Court, which is typically held on two evenings each month during the school year. As Judge Stump explained on Monday night, Teen Court is a real court with real cases and consequences that is a part of the local court system.

Students who serve as attorneys receive information about each case before the trial so they can conduct research and prepare for court. The teen attorneys can ask defendants or witnesses to take the stand for questioning. At each trial, Georgetown police officers attend and can be asked to take the witness stand and answer questions from the teen attorneys.

Youths who are 13 through 17 years-of-age charged with a Class C misdemeanor offense can choose to have their case tried in regular juvenile court or have their case tried in Teen Court. To be eligible for Teen Court, a teen defendant must enter a plea of guilty or no contest in the case. The sentencing phase is determined at a Teen Court trial in which teens serve as the defense and prosecuting attorneys, as well as jury members. Sentences in Teen Court typically involve community service hours and service on jury duty for teen court trials.

For more information about Teen Court, go to http://court.georgetown.org/teen-court.