Del Norte County is adding a new wing to its juvenile justice system that will offer first-time nonviolent offenders a chance to be held accountable by a true jury of their peers.
The system’s foundation will still be there. This includes the sheriff’s office, police department, Del Norte Unified School District, county probation, the District Attorney and the court itself, said Paul Dillard, chairman of the Del Norte County Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Commission. But as the John Wilson Teen Court program gains steam, Dillard sees youth serving as prosecutor, defense attorney, even the judge.
“We [will] have legal representation there to help those youth,” he told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday. “The DA’s office is going to be there for the prosecution and — not necessarily a public defender, maybe it’ll be a retired attorney or it might even be a retired judge — but they guide them. They set standards on the model that’s been created, including what they can do and what they can’t do.”
The John Wilson Teen Court program is named for a former member of the Del Norte County Juvenile Justice Commission kids used to call grandpa, Dillard explained.
Wilson was a retired highway engineer. Dillard said he built the road around Kilauea in Hawaii before he worked for the Del Norte County Road Division. He was also a past exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge #1689, chairman of the Del Norte County Grand Jury and a member of the Del Norte Youth Football Association.
His wife, Louise Wilson, was the county assessor, Dillard said.
According to Dillard, Wilson regularly attended court, wanting to make sure the youth involved received due process
“Even when he was down and out, he came into court in a wheelchair,” Dillard said.
Wilson died in 2018.
Del Norte’s teen court program began as a concept before the COVID-19 pandemic when JJC members started researching models in other communities. After the pandemic, the process of closing Del Norte County’s juvenile detention center drew the commission’s attention away from teen court.
JJC members started laying the foundation for teen court in September 2023 after the Board of Supervisors officially eliminated the juvenile hall division from the Probation Department. The commission partnered with Del Norte Unified School District, the Del Norte County Social Services Division and other agencies and began having formal meetings about teen court in March.
District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey got involved, and the group began meeting every two weeks or so, establishing a tentative target date for the program to start in mid January, Dillard said.
“This is nothing new, we’re just bringing it to our community,” he said. “It exists in Humboldt County and has been there for a while. They’ve been exceedingly helpful in us getting ours off the ground.”
Dillard said they’re also looking for youth volunteers, those who are “interested in opening their eyes as to what’s going on.” Dillard said the group establishing the John Wilson Teen Court program will likely look to DNUSD for recommended participants.
There are more than 1,500 teen court programs nationwide. According to a news release, this diversion program is for first-time nonviolent youth who are charged with a misdemeanor. It’s voluntary on the part of both the offender and the court, Dillard said.
In addition to serving as the prosecuting and defending attorneys, along with the jury, youth will decide what actions the offender may have to take to make amends for their infraction. It could be writing a letter to the victim or, if they’re in trouble for graffiti, the offender may need to clean it up.
If a judge gives an offender the option of going through the teen court process and they decline, they’ll still have to go through the normal adjudication process, Dillard said.
“If he goes to teen court, [the offense] never shows up on his record if they successfully complete it,” he said. “They only get one shot at this.”
All matters appearing before teen court are confidential. Youth who are interested in serving on a jury or community members in offering restorative options for those the program will serve, should email teencourtdelnorte@gmail.com.
