$3 TICKET SURCHARGE COULD REVIVE PALM BEACH COUNTY'S TEEN
COURT

Teen Court Could Get A Reprieve

Traffic Ticket Fee Designed To Fund Juvenile Program

Palm Beach County Teen Court is not dead yet.

State legislators have approved a bill that will allow counties to levy a
$3 surcharge on traffic tickets to finance teen courts. Proponents credit
the program with reducing juvenile crime and streamlining the legal system.

Money for the alternative court program and possibly its existence was in
doubt after the Legislature last year repealed the $3 surcharge.

But a provision to again allow the $3 fee was tacked onto a bill revising
state funding for the court system passed early this month.

The bill will now be sent to Gov. Jeb Bush, who will have 15 days to sign
it or reject it. A Bush spokesman, Russell Schweiss, said the governor has
not indicated whether he will sign it.

"It's not one that we've been able to do an initial analysis on before it
arrives," Schweiss said . "It's something that will be reviewed when it
arrives."

Palm Beach County Youth Court Manager Wilma Roy is confident Bush will sign
the bill.

The county program would have run out of money in December, she said.

"We were in jeopardy of losing the program," Roy said. "They were trying to
find the money to fund it."

Palm Beach County Youth Court, with a $750,000 annual budget, has been
running on cash reserves since funding from the fee was cut off in July
2004, Roy said.

County officials are dedicated to funding the court, but tapping taxpayer
revenue to fill the operating-cost gap now seems unlikely, Assistant County
Administrator Vince Bonvento said.

County staff have begun drafting an ordinance for the $3 surcharge. The
proposal would be presented to commissioners in two to three weeks, he said.

The program allows primarily first-time offenders charged with misdemeanors
or minor, nonviolent felonies to be judged in part by their peers. More
serious offenses remain in the juvenile justice system.

Youths serve as clerks, bailiffs, attorneys, arbiters and jurors for cases
involving retail theft, marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia possession.

Common punishments include community service, restitution, essays, drug
testing, counseling and parent-approved curfews. Youths who complete the
program can avoid a criminal record.

The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office and law enforcement send
about 5,000 cases a year to youth court, and only about 14 percent of
youths re-offend, Roy said. Jeanne Howard, juvenile division chief for the
Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, called that recidivism rate
"very low."

"It's a very effective preventative program that's utilized by the various
law enforcement agencies," Bonvento said. "It keeps them out of the system."