Juvenile court's strategies watched; could be put in place statewide

ST. LOUIS -- New goals to expedite juvenile cases in the city's family court could be a model for the state, experts say.

Before Judge Jimmie Edwards took over the St. Louis Family Court in January, the juvenile court did not have time goals.

Now, he asks attorneys, administrators and clerks to bring felony cases to trial within five weeks, and misdemeanors within two.

By contrast, it takes months or years to resolve adult cases.

Edwards said the result is worth the effort, but critics fear the speed will jeopardize lawyers' preparation of juvenile cases.

The city's daily juvenile detention population is down a third, to about 65 from about 110. Court figures show the average stay dropped to 23 days from 31. Youngsters go much more quickly to state facilities or alternative programs.

"We don't want the children locked up over here waiting on us for the wheels of justice to turn," Edwards said. "Our primary goal is rehabilitation. We get the child off the street, get services in place and get them help."

The effort has drawn attention from judicial officials across the state, including Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith.

"The judges and commissioners have set a course for change that may serve as a model for the state," she wrote in reply to a question from a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter.

Gary Waint, the interim state court administrator, who spent most of his career in juvenile cases, said Edwards is "eliminating delays that shouldn't be in place."

The Jackson County Family Court in Kansas City is considering similar guidelines. Dale Godfrey, a juvenile officer there, said it is nearly as busy as St. Louis and now takes about two months to complete a case.

Godfrey worries that attorneys, police officers and crime labs may not be able to keep up the faster pace. "Our burden of proof is the same as adult courts: beyond reasonable doubt," he emphasized.

Courts for children are already geared to move faster than for adults.

Juvenile court lawyers don't have to spend time tailoring arguments and preparing evidence for juries; judges decide all juvenile cases.

Other juvenile courts in the region say they do not track timing.

In Missouri, judges must decide in three days whether a child should be held in detention. It has no deadline for holding a juvenile trial.