Wednesday, February 25, 2004
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Wednesday, February 25, 2004 |
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Shoplifting, drug cases fuel increased load in Juvenile Court By JOHN MUNFORD The number of shoplifting cases in Fayette County Juvenile Court doubled last year, and the court saw a smaller increase in drug and alcohol-related cases compared to 2002. Court officials attribute the shoplifting increase to the greater number of stores in the area and the county’s growth. In 2003, 103 juveniles were adjudicated for theft by shoplifting compared to 49 the year before, according to court statistics. Drug offenses increased from 41 to 52 and alcohol violations rose from 35 to 50 in the same time frame. Sometimes, shoplifting cases are related to drug offenses because the offender is stealing items to help pay for a drug habit, noted Associate Juvenile Court Judge Tarey Schell, who is also an attorney in private practice. Fayette County’s entire juvenile caseload increased last year at 1,834 cases, up from 1,658 the previous year. “We’re just growing by leaps and bounds,” Schell said. “The volume is building.” The increase in drug cases are particularly of note, Schell added. “People in Fayette County seem to think that kids here don’t have a drug problem and that’s just not so,” Schell said. Judge Schell and Juvenile Court Judge A. Ronald Cook work the Griffin Judicial Circuit in Fayette, Spalding, Upson and Pike counties. Schell, who is on part-time status, originally started out doing just two days a week in court, but that has increased to three days a week, sometimes four, Schell said. With just one full-time and one part-time judge, the circuit handled 5,190 cases in 2003. Henry County, by contrast, handled 3,141 cases with one full-time and two part-time judges. Bibb County, with two full-time judges, handled 4,613 cases in 2003 while Clayton County’s three full-time judges disposed of 8,957 cases. Fulton County has seven full-time judges, who took care of 12,000 cases in 2003. Phyllis Harris, clerk of the Fayette County Juvenile Court, said her three full-time staffers keep court sessions running smoothly, aided by the new facility at the Fayette County Justice Center complex, which features additional rooms so witnesses for each side can be separated when necessary. Court is held the first four days of the month for delinquency, deprivation and traffic cases, with specially-set court dates the rest of the month, Harris said. And with the increase in cases, those days in court have become longer, Schell said. In some cases, a court hearing must be held within 10 days of the offender being charged, Harris noted. For offenders who are locked up in a juvenile detention facility, the first hearing must be held within 48 hours, Schell added. “Of course, the whole juvenile court is for the best interest of the child,” Schell said. “It’s also for law and order, but to tailor it to the special needs of the children.” The court also handles some custody cases which are handed down individually from the county’s Superior Court judges. “We stay busy,” Harris said. Judges Schell and Cook are also on call 24 hours a day for emergency hearings and they are both very good at being accessible, particularly when needed by law enforcement personnel, Harris said. Schell, who lives in Fayette County, noted that court personnel have all the numbers where they can reach him by land line phone, cell phone or pager. “They can’t escape us at all,” Harris joked.
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