On May 11, Griffin-Spalding Board of Education Chairman R. Syntel Brown hosted a dinner to honor and recognize the first class of Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) Peer Court.
This year’s Griffin+Spalding Peer Court Youth Leaders include Ethan Bearden (GHS), Wilson Blalock (SHS), Miaki Chambliss (SHS), Matthew Duncan (SHS), Ryan Hood (SHS & GRCCA), Kyaleah Mayberry (SHS), Maddy Murray (SHS & GRCCA), Olivia Owen (SHS) and Zion Wilson (SHS).
Peer Court is a youth leadership program through a partnership with the University of Georgia, J.W. Fanning Institute on Leadership and the Spalding County Judicial Circuit. At the beginning of the school year, District Attorney Marie Broder wrote and was awarded a grant for Fanning to provide the training for youth volunteers. Youth volunteers from both Griffin High School (GHS) and Spalding High School (SHS) were trained to be the judge, advocates (attorneys), bailiffs and jury for sentencing hearings of real court cases.
Griffin+Spalding Peer Court was held on the 4th Tuesday of each month from 5-7 p.m. in the courtroom at the Griffin Region College and Career Academy (GRCCA). Respondents are teenagers 17 years old or younger who had been arrested for a first-time offense, non-felony. The respondent is sent a letter from the courts giving them the option to take their case to juvenile court or to admit their guilt and be sentenced by their peers in Peer Court. Sentences include community service, serving on the Griffin+Spalding Peer Court jury for upcoming cases and written apologies. Once the sentence is completed, the charge is removed from the respondent's record. If the sentence is not completed within 60 days, the respondent returns to juvenile court. All monitoring of the sentence is done with a probation officer.
GRCCA CEO Katy Castanien stated, “These youth leaders were awesome in each role they played during peer court. None of the respondents sentenced this year have re-committed any crimes, which is the goal. I look forward to seeing this program grow in the future.”