Community Holds Young Offenders Accountable For Acts Volunteer Boards Decide Cases And Are Getting Results

Fidgeting and biting his fingernails, Jose Martinez looked like one nervous 13-year-old as he answered to three strangers.

The Grandview teenager stole $100 from his mother’s wallet and shattered a city street light with a rock.

The city wanted restitution. His mother wanted him to learn from his mistakes. The Community Accountability Board got the case.

Martinez’s responses to questions were brief. He denied he was a gang member and said he and his friends were throwing rocks when one hit the light.

One of the board members, Carolyn Greene of Grandview, pressed Martinez about whether he wanted to change.

“If you’re going to steal from your mother, then what’s next?” Greene asked.

Yakima County’s year-old Community Accountability Board places first-time minor offenders before a court of their neighbors.

While taking misdemeanors off a crowded court docket, the 17-member volunteer board holds youths accountable to their communities.

“I think it helps these kids to be in front of real people,” Greene said. “We don’t want to see these kids as criminals.”

Sunnyside Police Chief Wallace Anderson said he sees results. In the past year, graffiti and street fights have dropped significantly, and the board gives people an opportunity to influence what is taking place within the community, he said.

The board has met with about 325 families in the Sunnyside and Grandview areas, McGibbon said. Offenders range from 8 to 17 years old, and crimes mostly are third-degree theft, fourth-degree assault, disorderly conduct or malicious mischief.

The board has assigned about 1,650 community service hours, levied $4,700 in fines, and called for hundreds of class and counseling hours, and hundreds of letters of apology, essays and drug and alcohol assessments.

Many counties have been participating in the county-funded program for several years. King County has been participating since 1959 and Benton County since 1979.

Gary Peterson, a coordinator with the Benton County program, said 70 percent of the youths don’t re-offend. The 60-member Benton County board had 1,800 referrals in 1994, he said.

The Yakima County board meets twice a month to sentence about eight juvenile offenders. Divided into teams, volunteers review police and court records and then meet with the offender and his parent. The youth is questioned and asked to give his side of the story.

Trained and sworn by a Superior Court judge, volunteers then sentence the child using juvenile-court guidelines. Youngsters get two chances before the board. Then their cases referred to juvenile court.