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| Administrator Pat Escamilla | 2012 Clark County Information Sharing Guide Download It Now!! |
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A message from our Juvenile Court Administrator
I am pleased to welcome you to the Clark County Juvenile Court website. This website, our first ever attempt to provide a holistic “picture” of the work of the Juvenile Court, sets forth our mission, guiding principles and vision for how we strive to work today and into the future. It articulates the vision and foundation, Balanced and Restorative Justice, for our ongoing efforts to improve the performance of our programs, and share in creating the safe and healthy homes and neighborhoods that we all desire as members of the Clark County community.
| Dedication of the Robert L. Harris Juvenile Justice Center |
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| CCJJC prides itself on our family-friendly atmosphere. Take a 360 degree tour of our lobby on the TourWrist website. We welcome all to come feel how we do things a little differently. |
Clark County Juvenile Court has a rich and storied place in our community. The county established its first Juvenile Court in the early 1900s. The Juvenile Court is a division of the Clark County Superior Court and operates under the administrative authority of the Clark County Superior Court Judges. Excepting as otherwise provided within statute, the Juvenile Court has exclusive jurisdiction over juveniles who violate criminal laws and who are in need of protection and/or advocacy as a result of abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
Our mandate concerning juvenile offenders is multifaceted. Our most important charge is to protect the community by holding juvenile offenders accountable to the community and their victims, and to assist the community in providing youths and families with resources for positive change and maturation in becoming productive members of society. The scope of our responsibilities spans the distance from courtrooms to living rooms, ranges from police work to social work, and extends to children and families regardless of economic, social, or cultural differences.
We are charged with providing for both the immediate and long-term safety of our community. In meeting these challenges we are sometimes caught in the debate between proponents of retributive, punitive philosophy and advocates of traditional individual treatment methods. Neither approach completely satisfies the basic needs of crime victims, the community, and juvenile offenders.
Clark County Juvenile Court has committed itself to a holistic Balanced and Restorative Justice approach in fulfilling its statutory duties and mandates. It seeks to create a justice system wherein the focus is not simply on short-term external control of offenders, but wherein immediate and long-term needs of victims, community, and offenders are weighed in the balance, and all gain tangible benefits from their interactions with the juvenile justice system. This holistic commitment to Balanced and Restorative Justice places us in a position of leadership, not only in our community but also in the state and the nation, in bringing forward new perspective and understanding about how juvenile justice systems serve the community.
Pat Escamilla, Juvenile Court Administrator
