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Show Garfield Delinquency Rate Shows 35 Drop in Decade Juvenile delinquency has declined 13 percent in Garf ield County compared to the previous year of 1976 Counties with small populations such as Southern Utah usually exhibit great fluctuations in number of juvenile offenders referred from one year to the next. The average number of referrals per year for the proceeding 10 years in Garfield County stands at 100. In 1977. 69 referrals were received in the Fourth District Juvenile Court indicating what may be a significant trend downward for referrals to the court There are several factors which affect referrals to the juvenile court The most important of these is probably the community attitude toward strict enforcement of all the laws that impact juveniles. Laws such as illegal possession of alcohol and tobacco, for example, if they were strictly enforced would result in a substantial increase in the workload of the court. The degree to which these offenses, and others, are enforced vary greatly from city to city and sometimes even year to year in the same city. Another factor affecting fluctuations in numbers of juveniles referred is a substantial increase or decrease in the child population As the population goes up, generally speaking, so goes the referrals to the juvenile justice system. Hie policy of the law enforcement agencies themselves toward referring or not referring is another factor that has a significant impact on the statistical totals reflected int he court's annual report Most law enforcement officers will give a child at least one opportunity to mend his wavs before a referral is made In Garfield County the sheriff s department made 19 referrals, police department 10; Highway Patrol 17 and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources six. The schools referred three juveniles mostly for truancy and the Division of Family Services referred five juveniles most of them for ungovernable behavior As a result of court action in Garfield County there was $965 in fines levied against juvenile offenders There were 257 hours in work assignments completed and S13R collected as restitution and paid out to the victims of juvenile crimes |