Texas Appleseed and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid have produced a series of “Youth in Court” videos to explain the court process for children under 17 and how to defend against common Class C misdemeanor charges available here.
- Note that the videos were produced in 2014 and “Failure to Attend School” (commonly referred to as truancy) is no longer a criminal charge. While you may still be referred to justice of municipal court for Failure to Attend School, your case should not involve fines or a criminal conviction.
Alternative Sentencing Options
- If you are under 17, you do not have to prove that you are unable to pay a fine before asking for an alternative sentence. Alternative sentences are available to people under 17 regardless of their individual income or their household income.
- You can still choose to pay the fine in full if you prefer to do that.
- Or at any point, regardless of your income or your household income, you may request the court consider any of the following as your sentence instead of paying the fine:
- tutoring
- counseling
- mentoring
- job training
- community service
- alcohol or drug abuse rehabilitation
- or other options that related to the charge.
- If you’re ordered to attend a class, the court can also order your parents or guardian to attend a class with you.
- You can also ask for a payment plan too, but only do that if you're reasonably sure you'll be able to make the payments.
Deferred Dispositions & Juvenile Case Managers
- Courts will often offer deferred dispositions to people under 17 in fine-only cases. This means that if you complete the conditions imposed by the court, the charge will be dismissed.
- Conditions often include tutoring, counseling, classes, community service, etc.
- If you don't complete the terms of the deferred, you will be convicted and ordered to pay a fine and costs. You will still have the right to request an alternative way to resolve those fines and costs, as discussed above.
- Sometimes, the court will charge a fine or fee as part of the deferred disposition. If you cannot pay the fine or fee, but still want to enter the deferred disposition agreement, tell the court you are unable to pay. The fine or fee can be waived by the court or converted into community service like any other fine.
- Some courts also have “teen court” options.
- This allows defendants to plead no contest or guilty and have their case heard by their peers.
- Penalties are normally given in the form of community service or educational programs.
- Typically if you complete the ordered community service or programming within a specified time frame, the charges against you will be dismissed.
- Some courts employ juvenile case managers that you may have to check in with periodically if you have been given an alternative sentence to paying the fine or if you are placed on deferred disposition (aka “probation”).
Expungement
- You have special rights as a juvenile to have your record expunged. Even if you were convicted, you have the right to have your record expunged when you turn 17 if you were only convicted of one fine-only offense.
- Texas no longer punishes truancy as a criminal offense. All Failure to Attend School convictions prior to the law change in September 2015 should have been expunged.