As authorized by Florida State Statute 985.12, Juvenile Civil Citation is an alternative to arresting youth who commit misdemeanor acts and ensures that these juveniles are expeditiously held accountable, supervised and receive appropriate intervention services. Law enforcement officials can issue a civil citation to a youth charged with a misdemeanor offense, in lieu of an arrest.
The purpose of Juvenile Civil Citation process is to:
- Ensure that the youth’s misdemeanor offense is appropriately addressed without creating a criminal record
- Reduce juvenile delinquency
- Provide taxpayer savings
The program provides the intake assessment services and coordination of prevention and early intervention services, such as mental health and/or substance abuse counseling, community service, parental services, restorative justice conferencing, anger management classes and academic progress monitoring.
Since the County began serving as the coordinating entity in 2012, Juvenile Civil Citation has:
- Served over 4,000 youth
- Achieved 90 percent successful completion rate
- Achieved 98 percent of youth do not recidivate
- Saved an estimated $13.6 million savings in arrest processing costs
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