RAYMONDVILLE — Soon, many teenage defendants here will be tried by juries of their peers.
City commissioners have approved Municipal Court Judge Felicita Gutierrez’s plan to start a teen court program aimed at showing teenagers the inside of the judicial system.
“The kids learn about the judicial process and they get to be on the other side — on the jury panel — so they learn from both sides of the fence,” Gutierrez said yesterday.
In the Rio Grande Valley, Raymondville joins cities such as Brownsville and Mission, which run teen court programs.
As part of the program overseen by the Texas Municipal Courts Educational Center, teenage defendants charged with Class C misdemeanors with the exception of domestic violence will be eligible to participate for a $20 administrative fee.
In exchange for the teenagers’ participation, the Municipal Court will waive civil penalities such as traffic fines.
“We’re going to work with these kids,” Gutierrez said.
In this city struggling with high poverty rates, the program gives teenagers an alternative to paying Municipal Court fines.
“The parents don’t want to pay and the kids don’t have the money,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said a volunteer attorney would help train the teenagers to staff the teen court.
Meanwhile, students taking Raymondville High School’s criminal justice class will serve in the roles prosecutors and defense attorneys, she said.
A bailiff will oversee the jury made up of six teenagers who will preside as part of their community service assignments, Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said she will present the teenage jurors with a range of punishments before they hand down their verdict.
Verdicts will include periods of community service at area schools, she said.
“It helps kids get involved in the school so kids get a sense of belonging,” she said.
Gutierrez said teenage defendants will be limited to annual participation in the program expected to begin in July.
