NCJ Number
70133
Date Published
1980
Length
90 pages
Annotation
This sixth volume of a six-volume study of Mississippi's court system examines the State's existing juvenile justice system, particularly caseload and caseflow, and recommends improvements.
Abstract
Different approaches were used to analyze youth court data including offense categories, types of hearings, filings and dispositions, court locations, and caseload-personnel ratios. Mississippi's juvenile justice system is a combination of adjudicative services lodged with several court types and social services provided by judicial and executive agencies at the State and local levels. Because the system is fundamentally different from the adult criminal justice system, its needs do not parallel those of court administration in the adult system. There is less need to focus on efficiency in managing judicial business and more emphasis on the quality of justice system services. The youth courts are generally characterized by great disparity in organizational structure, operations, judicial hearing officers, use of jail detention, adherence to constitutional and legal requirements, extent of prosecution and defense counsel representation, processing time, adequacy of records, and availability of social service rehabilitation programs. The recent Youth Court Act has helped solve some substantive problems of the States juvenile justice system. An evaluation of the Act should be conducted to determine the impact on service delivery in the juvenile justice system. The Mississippi Judicial Council should establish within its operational structure and responsibility a mechanism for the collection and assimilation of youth court caseload information. Supplementary data are appended, and tabular data and footnotes are provided throughout the report's body. See NCJ 70127-32 and NCJ 70134.