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PURPOSE-GOALS Lincoln County Student Traffic Court exists through a cooperative undertaking between the Lincoln County District Court and participating area schools. The hope is that students, administrators, parents and the public in general will value this program for its benefits to the student defendants, as well as those who serve as members of the court and the public. Students from Lincoln County High Schools serve as Judge, Clerk and Jury members. The objectives of the Student Traffic Court are: 1. To allow students who have been cited for minor traffic infractions (speeding, etc.) to take responsibility for those violations, while keeping their relatively new driving record clean. 2. To educate all of the student participants concerning the working of the court system. 3. To give an incentive to student drivers to drive more carefully. 4. To utilize a physical labor sanction for student violators rather than have them (or their parents) merely pay money. Qualified High School students are allowed to appear before the Student Court (instead of District Court), receive a penalty of community service and prevention education, and if performed successfully, have the infraction eventually dismissed. Students who serve on the Court as judge, jurors, or clerks benefit from the experience as well. They learn skills in listening and decision making, acquire knowledge of how the legal system works, deal with the real world issues of ambiguity and peer pressure, and learn the importance of recognizing the foreseeable consequences of one’s actions. The community benefits because all community service is performed in the community where the student resides. It is anticipated that parents value this program because students are required to take responsibility for their actions, while at the same time maintain some degree of insurance affordability. The Student Court will determine the number of hours of community service, which the student defendant must complete as a result of committing the infraction. The student court will also require that the student defendant attend a driver education class in Davenport. As far as the student’s Department of Licensing record is concerned, the District Court will enter a “deferral” designation regarding this infraction. The deferral status continues for up to one year. If the student defendant does not commit any additional moving traffic violations within that one-year period, the record will change from deferral to “not committed”. The filing of any infraction or criminal traffic violation with an offense date after entry of the deferral shall be considered a new violation unless the case has been dismissed with prejudice before the review date of the deferral. The record will automatically be changed, without notice to the defendant from “deferred” to “committed”. The defendant will not be entitled to an additional deferral of a traffic infraction in the State of Washington for seven years if he/she elects to have an infraction deferred under the above system. In the same vein, if the student does not attend the driving school session or complete the community service as directed by the Student Court in the time required, then, without further notice, the student’s driving record will be changed from “Deferral” to “Committed”. |
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