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Neighborhood Court is in session — and working fast.

Since being established in June — as a partnership among ΢����Ƶ, the city of Davis and the Yolo County district attorney’s office — this alternative to criminal court has heard 51 cases and adjudicated 30 of them, with each case stretching over 22 days, on average.

Fifteen cases originated at ΢����Ƶ.

Neighborhood Court is for low-level, nonviolent offenses such as public drunkenness and other alcohol-related incidents, petty theft and vandalism. Neighborhood Court is voluntary; the proceedings are confidential.

The process emphasizes the harm done by the defendants to other people and the community, and focuses on restorative justice — “making it right,” said Deputy District Attorney Christopher Bulkeley, who coordinates the program.

The court, as its name implies, comprises a panel of community members. In taking up a case, they discuss it with the defendant, and, when appropriate, the victim, too, and agree on a plan whereby the defendant acknowledges the harm done and sets out to repair it in some way.

For example, one plan called for offender to write a letter of apology to a grocery store for shoplifting. In a case of public drunkenness, the offender agreed to contact drug and alcohol counseling services on campus and complete whatever counseling they advised.

The district attorney’s office is seeking volunteers, including ΢����Ƶ students, to hear Neighborhood Court cases. For more information, contact Bulkeley at (530) 681-6323 or neighborhoodcourt@yolocounty.org.