Authority to establish teen court – Procedure for participation – Determining factors for participation – Authority of teen court

(a) Any juvenile court judge is authorized to establish a teen court program pursuant to this part. In a jurisdiction in which there are multiple juvenile court judges, each judge may establish a teen court program. In any jurisdiction in which a teen court program is established, a teen charged with an offense specified under this part may receive a deferred judgment, a condition of which is successful completion of the teen court program. As a part of such program, the teen shall receive a disposition recommended by a five-member teen court and confirmed by the juvenile court judge. The teen court shall be held at a place to be determined by the local juvenile court judge. (A) A person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCCGuardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.Juvenile court: means the general sessions court in all counties of this state, except in those counties and municipalities in which special juvenile courts are provided by law, and "judge" means judge of the juvenile court. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105(b) The procedure for the court to determine participation in the teen court is as follows: (1) Pursuant to local, written procedures adopted by the juvenile court, participation in the teen court program may be initiated by an officer of the court under the informal adjustment or pretrial diversion process of § 37-1-110; (2) (A) After the court places a child on judicial diversion or adjudicates a child delinquent or unruly pursuant to § 37-1-129, the court may direct that the disposition determination will be made by the teen court; (B) When a juvenile court determines that a case is appropriate to be handled by the teen court, the teen shall be informed by the court of the procedures for teen court disposition and shall be given an opportunity to enter a waiver of rights to participate in a teen court disposition. The court shall inform the teen that if the teen enters a waiver, including a waiver of any right for an attorney to be present during the dispositional stage, juvenile court proceedings shall be suspended for a period of six (6) months or such other time authorized by the local, written procedures of the juvenile court and a teen court may be empanelled to hear evidence on disposition; such teen court shall deliberate, and shall make a recommendation to the judge for disposition of the case, which may be confirmed by the juvenile court without further proceedings. If the teen elects to not enter a waiver, the judge shall proceed with the case as provided by law without referral to the teen court. (c) In choosing cases to be referred to the teen court for disposition, the juvenile court shall determine that: (1) The offense or attempted offense underlying the juvenile petition was one (1) of the following: (A) Assault, § 39-13-101; (B) Burglary, § 39-13-1002; (C) Theft of property, § 39-14-103; (D) Vandalism, § 39-14-408; (E) Forgery, § 39-14-114; (F) Cruelty to animals, § 39-14-202; (G) Unauthorized use of vehicle, § 39-14-106; (H) [Deleted by 2016 amendment.] (I) Disorderly conduct, § 39-17-305; (J) Harassment, § 39-17-308; (K) Criminal trespass, § 39-14-405; (L) Traffic offense, § 37-1-146; (M) Runaway, § 37-1-102(b)(32)(D); (N) Truancy, § 37-1-102(b)(32)(A); (O) Violation of curfew, § 39-17-1702; (P) Unruly, § 37-1-102(b)(32); (Q) Violation of any of the following sections of the Tennessee Drug Control Act, compiled in title 39, chapter 17, part 4: (i) § 39-17-418(a) or (b), relative to simple possession or casual exchange of a controlled substance; (ii) § 39-17-422(a) or (b), relative to smelling or inhaling fu