Juvenal Justice

Juvenile Justice

Our Mission
Our Mission is to inquire into the administration of Juvenile Court Law in the County of Tulare and develop new strategies which continually improve juvenile justice and delinquency prevention with the focus on long term impact on the community.

Mandate
Sections 225 through 233.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code requires each county to have a juvenile justice commission and a delinquency prevention commission. Tulare County has a combined juvenile justice and delinquency prevention commission. The law requires the commission to inquire into the administration of juvenile justice in Tulare County. To accomplish this, the commission is granted access to all publicly administered institutions authorized by Juvenile Court Law. This includes annual inspections of probation administered institutions, jails detaining juveniles for more than 24 hours, and institutions operated for dependent children of the court. To gain information beyond the inspections of institutions, the commission may hold hearings and, using the subpoena power of the juvenile court judge, require testimony of witnesses and the presentation of documentation. The commission reports yearly the results of inspections to the juvenile court judge.

The commission plays an important role in the appointment of the chief probation officer and is required to provide the nomination of the chief probation officer to the juvenile court judge. In the area of delinquency prevention, the commission’s role is to coordinate on a county-wide basis the work of those governmental and non-governmental organizations engaged in activities designed to prevent juvenile delinquency.

The Commission consists of 7 to 15 members appointed by the presiding judge of the Superior Court with the approval of the judge of the Juvenile Court. Two of these members can be youth members between the ages of 14 to 21.

Meeting Information
Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of every other month from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. All meetings are open to the public.

Contact Information
Tulare County Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Commission

Phone: 559-733-6207
juvjustice@co.tulare.ca.us