Overview of Services

Scales of Justice

 
Services are provided to juveniles under the authority of the Tarrant County Juvenile Board, which has designated the 323rd State District Court to serve as the Juvenile Court.
 

By statute, Tarrant County Juvenile Services is the agency designated to receive law enforcement reports of law violations defined either as delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision allegedly committed by juveniles (children ages 10 through 16).

Delinquent conduct includes Class A & B misdemeanors as well as felony-grade offenses. Conduct indicating a need for supervision includes Class C misdemeanors transferred from a justice or municipal court and include public intoxication, truancy, running away, inhalant abuse and violation of school disciplinary codes that result in expulsion.

Services performed include screening and diversion of cases to community resources, presenting objective reports to the the court for use at disposition, executing court-ordered treatment and supervision, administering community corrections programs, securing alternative placement and administering collection of court-ordered probation fees. Tarrant County Juvenile Services has developed programs and operations with the goal of diverting youth from the juvenile justice system at the earliest appropriate point. The Juvenile Court endorses this belief by striving to identify the least restrictive environment for the care and rehabilitation of children while assuring community safety. To this end, Tarrant County Juvenile Services has developed a range of community and home-based programs as additional options in solving the problem of juvenile crime. Juvenile Services has the ability to offer a diverse continuum of services to youth and families of Tarrant County. 

Tarrant County Juvenile Services operates the Juvenile Detention Center, which is a 24-hour secure facility for the temporary detention of juveniles for serious law violations. The goal of the center is to provide supervision, activities and counseling that will benefit each child during his stay. Services provided include educational, medical, recreational and life skills training as well as daily written observations of each child for use by the court.