The Kaysville Youth Court is a voluntary juvenile diversionary program where high school age youth participate and act as judges, jurors, clerks, bailiffs, mentors, and teachers offering peer counseling and peer tutoring classes; enabling them to develop an understanding and respect for the legal process. The Youth Court does not determine guilt, but takes youth offenders who admit their mistakes and provides them with appropriate consequences.

Youth who appear before the Youth Court have been identified by law enforcement personnel, school officials, or any other concerned party as having committed acts which indicate a need for intervention to prevent further development toward juvenile delinquency. The Youth Court provides this early intervention in the form of positive peer pressure that keeps the offending youth from having a juvenile record while holding the youth accountable to both their peers and the community.

The Kaysville Youth Court was founded in September 2000 by Kim Smith. It has been operational for 22 years (with a break from March 2020 to August 2022 due to COVID). In August 2022, new judges were selected for the 2023 Court. The 2023 Court has a panel of 14 new judges. They completed three months of training and began hearing cases in January 2023. The first case was a theft case.

Tina Johnson and Kim Smith are the Youth Court Advisors; they are assisted by Police Officer Cade Bradshaw and City Council representatives Abbigayle Hunt and Nate Jackson. The Youth Judges are: Marrisa Blocker, Hailey Christensen, Mckay Clemens, Ryan Dimmick, Landon Jacobs, Abby Lusk, Kate Miller, Ruby Muller, Hermon Mulugets, Mia Schimmer, Sophia Shekar, Lisa Von Bose, Kimberly Waite and Luci Willard.

Johnson said the process really is a “labor of love” and everyone involved makes a huge sacrifice of time. She said the group meets about three times a month. Smith added that “the program has been in place so long that one of the judges being sworn in today is the son of one of her very first judges.”Smith and Johnson thanked the families involved as well.

The advisors and judges were honored by the Mayor and City Council at the Jan. 19 City Council meeting. Mayor Tami Tran said “she appreciates the willingness to serve in this capacity” and “felt the work they were performing in this process was critical to attempt to prevent future consequences.” She said this is a big responsibility for the group to operate with the utmost integrity and confidentiality.