2 SCHOOLS TO OPEN TEEN COURT SESSION.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

The county's experimental Teen Court - where some first-time juvenile offenders face a jury of their teen-age peers - is being expanded to Simi Valley and Camarillo high schools.

Organizers said the 6-month-old pilot program in the Oxnard high school district has sold itself as one way to combat youth crime. While an actual judge presides over the proceedings, teen-agers serve as attorneys, bailiffs and clerks, as well as jurors who reach verdicts and recommend sentences.

``It is one method to try and stop this rising tide of youth violence,'' said Tina Rasnow, a Westlake Village attorney who helped start the program in November. ``Adults don't have the answers for kids' problems because we're too far removed from them.''

Camarillo High School students began planning and rehearsing for Teen Court at the end of March. Simi Valley High School will begin planning and rehearsing for Teen Court today, Rasnow said.

The two schools also may accept offenders from neighboring schools such as Royal High School and Rio Mesa High School.

``Young people are hearing about Teen Court in other areas, and they're asking why can't they have it at their schools?'' she said. ``The students want a chance to sit as jurors to make decisions about kids (who) are getting into trouble at their own schools.''

The state Education Code allows school districts to join Juvenile Courts and county probation agencies in operating Teen Courts. Ventura County followed Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and several other counties in establishing the program.

Teen Court is set up so teen-agers can send a message to first-time, nonviolent juvenile offenders by deciding their punishment. Juries decide how seriously to punish crimes such as petty theft, acts of vandalism or fights on campus. Sentences are limited to performing community service, paying restitution and a requirement that offenders sit on future Teen Court jury panels.

The judges, who serve on a volunteer basis, are Juvenile Court judges, judicial commissioners and attorneys sitting as pro tem judges. Judges decide punishment based on jury panel recommendations, though they are expected to follow jury recommendations.

``There was, I think, a fear that the juries would be really hard on these students. The juries have been so fair,'' Rasnow said.

Only one offender so far failed to satisfy a sentence handed down in the Teen Court. Rasnow said the youth was sent to Ventura Juvenile Court.