Fallon Tribal Juvenile Court Project

The Fallon Indian Reservation and Colony will establish and implement a Juvenile Court to serve 298 Fallon Paiute-Shoshone youth aged 8-17. This juvenile court, to be called the Fallon Tribal Juvenile Court, will allow the judicial system to focus exclusively on juvenile delinquency issues which are currently handled though the adult Fallon Tribal Court. The adult court currently handles a large volume of cases and as a result the juvenile cases/issues are given lower priority than other criminal matters (such as arraignments, bench and jury trials, etc.). This project will allow the Tribe to establish a separate forum with designated personnel (judge, clerk, prosecutor, probation, defense advocate) to process juvenile cases more effectively and provide greater accountability and supervision of juvenile offenders. Another function of the Juvenile Court will be to establish a series of training programs for court and police personnel on juvenile crime and delinquency issues. Performance measures will include participation and recidivism rates. CA/NCF