When kids and adults find themselves on the wrong side of the law, setting them on the straight and narrow can be tough, but often in Warren County rehabilitation takes precedent over punishment.

“You don’t know all the underlying factors that a child is going through,” County Prosecutor Ricky Johnson told the Vicksburg Lions Club Wednesday.

Johnson is responsible for prosecuting all the county’s cases in youth court and justice court. In both courts, Johnson said, most defendants are in crisis, whether it be addiction or a bad home environment.

Johnson’s office works with defendants in both courts to get them the appropriate help.

“Every opportunity that comes along is an opportunity to bless somebody,” Johnson said.

Youth court often is where the most impact is made with intervention because sadly, Johnson said, some adults have given up on getting their lives on track.

“If they don’t want to fix their behavior, they aren’t going to fix it,” he said.

Youth court prosecutes approximately 400 to 500 cases per year, Johnson said, but many cases are resolved without actually going before a judge.

“Our caseload is about the same as the District Attorney’s caseload for felonies,” Johnson said.

Punishment options are limited based on a child’s age, Johnson said. No child younger than 13 can be tried as an adult without special circumstances, and no one younger than 10 can be confined in youth detention center, he said.

“If a child is 7, 8, or 9 and committing these horrible offenses, we have to send them home or find another place for them,” he said.

Youths who are found guilty are often only sentenced to limited amounts of time in a detention facility because after more than 60 days, it seems that children begin to become institutionalized, Johnson said.

“I really don’t see that as rehabilitation — that extended stay,” Johnson said.

Many of the defendants in youth court and justice court have mental illnesses or disabilities. Currently there is no facility in the county to house youth mental patients, he said.

“Most of them, we have to send to Bastrop, La.,” Johnson said, but others are sent to facilities in Jackson.

Johnson’s office works closely with Vicksburg Warren School District to make sure troubled students are getting a proper education and enrolling them in alternative education programs.

“He really tries hard to keep these kids out of jail and keep them in school,” school board member Joe Loviza said.