The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney is responsible for seeking justice in hundreds of cases involving juveniles each year. In each of those matters, it is our mission to balance the competing interests of the child, of society and of
The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney is responsible for seeking justice in hundreds of cases involving juveniles each year. In each of those matters, it is our mission to balance the competing interests of the child, of society and of the victims, in attempting to reach a just result.
Our vision is a progressive one, based on immediate sanctions to youthful offenders and providing the services necessary to the entire family to prevent the juvenile from reoffending, while protecting society and achieving justice for crime victims.
To accomplish this mission it is necessary for our attorneys, clerks and victim advocates to work closely with our law enforcement partners at KPD as well as the Juvenile Family Services Branch of the Judiciary. We also work hand-in-hand with our friends at Teen Court.
Teen Court is a successful, long-running program that helps to address first time, non-violent offenders and youth who are having truancy issues.
The program is administered by Hale Opio and staffed by volunteer judges (usually attorneys from our legal community) and jurors.
Most of the youth who go through the Teen Court program stay out of further trouble.
One of the best things about the Teen Court program is the speed and efficiency of the sanctions it imposes. We are able to move these cases much faster and get the juvenile to face consequences much more quickly than in Family Court, and studies show (as does our experience) that this makes a big difference in preventing the juvenile from reoffending.
While almost all juvenile cases are bound by strict rules of confidentiality, our office seeks to be as transparent as possible in describing and executing our vision of juvenile justice.
Research shows that the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system depends heavily on how fast it moves … in other words, youthful offenders respond best when the sanction is swift.
That’s why Teen Court is so important; it allows KPD and OPA to bypass a slow-moving court process by diverting the juvenile immediately into a setting where they receive counseling and sanctions in a peer-oriented setting. This is a proven model that gets results.
For more serious situations, our office files petitions in the Family Court and proceeds in that venue. Family Court juvenile proceedings more closely resemble a traditional criminal court process, with lawyers, hearings, adjudications and sanctions.
Very few juveniles are sent from Kauai to the youth correctional facility in Honolulu; more often the result is probation and close supervision by a team of talented juvenile probation officers.
Sanctions frequently include community service work, restitution to victims, substance abuse counseling and letters of apology.
Our vision for the youth of our island community is first, to ensure that they have meaningful and wholesome activities to participate in so that they don’t get into trouble in the first place, but for those who, for whatever reason, do end up breaking the law, to get them the services and intervention they need at a young age so that they do not become criminals once they hit their 18th birthday.
Once they become adults, and begin accumulating criminal convictions on their permanent record, it becomes very difficult for them to get jobs and have the other opportunities they need to become successful individuals in their lives.
Our office is always willing to hear your thoughts and comments on how it does its work.
I can be reached via email at prosecutor@kauai.gov. Mahalo nui loa to Hale ‘Opio and The Garden Island for offering this space for us to share our mana‘o with you.
• Justin Kollar is the Kauai County prosecutor.
Hale Opio Kauai convened a support group of adults in our Kauai community to “step into the corner” for our teens, to answer questions and give support to youth and their families on a wide variety of issues. Please email your questions or concerns facing our youth and families today to Annaleah Atkinson at aatkinson@haleopio.org
