Juvenile Court Reports to the Community (Utah State Bar News & Announcements)

Salt Lake City, Utah— When it comes to delinquency cases, Utah’s juvenile courts work to further community safety by helping juvenile offenders stop criminal behavior. At the same time, the courts work to provide justice to victims.

How well are the juvenile courts performing their work? According to a Juvenile Court Report Card to the Community, which will be released on Sept. 21, Utah’s juvenile courts are making a substantial contribution to further community safety.

Utah’s juvenile courts have established six benchmarks—delinquency referrals, juvenile crime, restitution paid, law abiding behavior, drug testing, community service—from which to measure progress in furthering safety, restoring justice for victims, and reducing the risk of youth re-offending. Following is a re-cap of progress from 2007 on these benchmarks:

Delinquency referrals: Most youth appear in Juvenile Court for lesser offenses. In 2007, delinquency referrals—which are an important measure of juvenile behavior—to Juvenile Court consisted primarily of misdemeanor offenses (54 %), followed by status offenses (17%), and contempt of court (15%). Only 7 percent of delinquency referrals are for felony offenses, the most severe type of offense.

Juvenile crime: The per capita rate of felony referrals is much lower than the per capita rate of misdemeanor referrals, which means youth are committing less severe offenses.

Restitution paid: Restitution paid to crime victims in 2007, totaled $615,000, which means 94 percent of restitution due was paid.

Law abiding behavior: Whether or not a youth re-offends after being involved with the Juvenile Court is a valuable gauge of the success of the court’s programs. In 2007, the re-offense rate shows 69 percent of youth did not re-offend.

Drug testing: A juvenile offender’s resistance to drug use helps the court determine progress these youth are making toward law abiding behavior. In 2007, 83 percent of drug tests were negative.

Community service: Ordering community service is one way to hold delinquent youth accountable for the harm they have caused in the community. Community service hours in 2007, totaled nearly 395,000 hours or more than $1.5 million in taxpayer benefits.

“Utah’s juvenile courts are providing an important service that is making a different in kid’s lives and increasing community safety,” according to Utah Juvenile Court Administrator Ray Wahl.

The 2007 Juvenile Court Report Card to the Community is the first time the statistics have been compiled and reported. In the future, the Report Card will be prepared annually and will provide valuable statistical comparisons to previous years.

Utah citizens have an opportunity to review the report card in the Sept. 21 editions of the Deseret Morning News and The Salt Lake Tribune or on the Utah State Court’s website at www.utcourts.gov/courts/juv

Utah State Bar News & Announcements

Juvenile Court Reports to the Community

Search

About