Suggestions for starting a teen court in your area. These are the steps we found most productive in implementing Teen Court in Knox County. We offer one word of caution in the establishment of a Teen Court program: GO SLOW, GO SLOW, GO SLOW!   1. There must be a sponsoring organization. In Knox County, the American Legion Auxiliary is that organization. This group must be willing to commit to the full organization, implementation and supervision of the program. The sponsoring organization must select one person to chair the program. This person must be in control and know exactly what is being done and said regarding the program. This person needs to know who, when and how the original contacts are made and the overall acceptance or rejection (if any) to Teen Court. Misunderstanding or misinterpretation at this level can be detrimental to the program as a whole.   2. Contact Police, Probation, the Sheriff Dept., City Council, County Board, DARE officers, Schools, Churches, Attorneys, Judges, Social Service organizations, etc., and inform them of the program. The people who work in the criminal justice system are the MOST crucial to your program. Without the strong and active support of at least one or two individuals from any of the following: Police, State's Attorney, Judges, Probation Officers, Sheriff, or Attorneys, the program cannot get off the ground.   3. After these groups have been informed, hold an open meeting, inviting all of them. The purpose of the meeting is to see if there is enough interest and support to proceed with the program. If so, ask for a motion to proceed with the implementing of the Teen Court in your area.   4. Take the "motion" back to the sponsoring organization and ask them to appoint a steering committee to proceed with the program. The sponsoring organization must be willing to allocate $100-$500 to the Steering Committee for items such as phone calls, postage, stationery, etc.   5. The Steering Committee must meet ASAP and appoint an advisory board. Knox County selected 15 members. Four American Legion Auxiliary members, a Legionnaire, and 10 members at large from the professions and organizations that were original contacts and expressed a great deal of interest in the program. 6. Our advisory board chose to have 5 committees. The Chairmen of these committees were advisory board members. Other committee members were interested members of the community. The committees were: Budget & Finance, Public Relations & Publicity, Legal, Schools, and Coordinator job description and search. 7. Prepare a schedule and determine the length of time necessary for your community to have Teen Court in operation. Be Realistic. Knox County allowed 9 months from the date of our organizational meeting. We were able to have our first Teen Court right on schedule.   8. You may find, as we did, that the community will embrace you and your efforts to start Teen Court. You need to take advantage of this and encourage "in-kind donations" Desks, chairs, file cabinets, carpeting, phones and installation, and printed brochures are some of the donations we received. All of our training seesions and Teen Court trials are held in the Knox County Court House at no cost. Local Attorneys prepared and filed our Corporation papers and developed a policy and procedure manual specifically for our Teen Court at no cost. They train and continue to monitor the volunteer students from 5 school districts who serve as jurors, court clerks, bailiffs and prosecuting and defense attorneys in our program. Local attorneys also serve as volunteer judges on trial nights. Our coordinator and staff are volunteers. We have a Knox College student doing an internship with us for college credit at no cost to Teen Court. The committee should not be afraid to ask for help. The resources are out there. We have found that we do not need a lot of money to keep Teen Court going; however, we do need a strong commitment from staff, the sponsoring organization, committees and most importantly, the community. It is important you make any necessary changes and tailor the original program to fit the needs of your community. No two Teen Courts are exactly alike. We have one very important recommendation -- GO SLOW. The documents on this site are a product of Knox County Teen Court, 55 West Tompkins Street, Galesburg, Illinois. (August 1996)