[7/20/03]Parents are being forced to repay Warren County for Youth Court attorneys’ fees in one of several changes in the court this year, officials said.

The collection system is one way the court is making parents aware that they are responsible for their children’s actions, court administrator Rachel Hardy said.

“We’ve seen parents realize that not only are they responsible if their child vandalizes something or hurts somebody, they’re also responsible for the attorney,” Hardy said.

The court’s judge, Johnny Price, said the county pays about $85,000 a year to attorneys for representing people with cases before the court, and that early collections have been running at about 90 percent of that amount.

Flexible monthly schedules based on parents’ abilities to pay are being arranged, but Price has begun jailing some parents for contempt of court when he finds that they are not complying with his orders.

“Judge Price is strongly encouraging absent fathers to become part of their children’s lives,” Hardy said. “A lot of attorney fees are split between parents.”

The court continues to collect restitution for victims of juvenile crimes, Hardy added.

Youth Court hears juvenile matters including delinquency, abuse and neglect of those under 18. Its proceedings and records are confidential.

The court has also added a sixth full-time employee to help with its current caseload of 137 parolees. Charron Frazier has been hired to fill a position that was vacant for two-and-a-half years. Price said the youth court’s Rep. George Flaggs, who also represents Warren County in the state House of Representatives, helped get the fill the position filled, Price said.

John Tompkins, a court counselor for 31 years, retired in May.

Price became judge in January after representing the county in the court as prosecutor for 13 years. He was the court’s first new judge to be seated in 16 years. The person serving as Youth Court judge also serves as the judge of Warren County Court.

The court also has a part-time counselor, based in Hinds County, who helps with its caseload, Hardy said.

During this, Price’s first summer as judge, court-ordered participation in a city-run summer program has increased, Hardy said.

“Shape Up For the Future,” a six-week program at the city’s Jackson Street Center, graduated 45 of its 57 original participants, Hardy said.

Participants were ages 10 through 17, and not all had come before the court for alleged delinquency, she said. Some were “children in need of supervision” and “first-time issues,” she added.

The program was conducted this year by Vicki Bailey and Tyrone Caldwell, with a total staff of at least seven people, staff member William Davis said.

Operating from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., the program included tutoring sessions in math and reading, Hardy said. It has been funded by a grant for about the past two years, and is not limited to city residents, Hardy said.

Other programs that have been begun this year include:

Presentations to some local juvenile offenders by prisoners at the federal prison in Yazoo City. A speaker from the prison spoke at the county’s youth detention center in February, and nine children and some of their parents made a court-ordered trip to the prison last month, court counselor Hazel Calhoun said.

A Boy Scouts of America troop for boys involved in youth court. Plans are moving ahead, with the Warren-Yazoo Mental Health Center’s Horace Allen to lead the troop, Hardy said. It is scheduled to begin meeting the first week in August, she added.

A dress code for children going before the court has been put in place.

The code, which is posted in the detention center’s waiting area, includes prohibitions on hats, earrings and untucked shirts.

A regular Youth Court update broadcast on TV 23, the City of Vicksburg’s cable channel on Vicksburg Video. A new program is scheduled to be on the air this week.

The show airs Sundays at 8 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.