Youth Training Event Recruits Volunteer Attorneys for Teen Court

The office of the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller is sponsoring a training event to provide young adults with a chance to learn how to be an attorney in real criminal cases for Manatee County’s Teen Court and Teen Court Too, a diversionary program designed to stop youthful delinquent behavior before a pattern is established.

The event will take place at the Manatee Community Foundation, located at 2820 Manatee Ave. W. in Bradenton, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 28. During the session, students, ages 12-17, will discover how to defend and prosecute juvenile offenders that have been diverted or referred to Manatee County’s Teen Court and Teen Court Too diversionary program through the Department of Juvenile Justice and Juvenile Court. Attendees will also gain basic legal and judicial system knowledge, practice proper court decorum, learn valuable life skills like public speaking and earn community service hours.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided. For more information or to reserve your spot, contact Manatee County Teen Court and Teen Court Too at 941-741-4027 or sue.lockliear@manateeclerk.com by Sept. 26.

Established in Manatee County in 1991, Teen Court and Teen Court Too was created to allow first-time juvenile offenders, ages 10-17, of misdemeanor offenses a second chance while holding them accountable for their actions. Cases are heard before a jury of their peers and sanctions are assigned for the defendant to complete.

Each defendant within the program is required to complete two mandatory sanctions: community service hours and jury duty. However, the jury has the option to hand out additional sanctions, including writing letters of apology or essays, a verbal apology to their parents in court, curfews, restitution or counseling, among other sanctions.

Manatee County Teen Court and Teen Court Too is held every Tuesday evening at 5:15 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Manatee County Judicial Center at 1051 Manatee Ave. W. in Bradenton, excluding holidays. Youth volunteers fill the following roles: prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, court clerk, bailiff and juror. Only those volunteers who have gone through an attorney-training session, held twice a year in spring and fall, will be able to defend or prosecute a case