The number of shoplifting cases

in Fayette County Juvenile Court doubled last year, and the court saw

a smaller increase in drug and alcohol-related cases compared to 2002.

Court officials attribute the

shoplifting increase to the greater number of stores in the area and the

county's growth. In 2003, 103 juveniles were adjudicated for theft

Drug offenses increased from

41 to 52 and alcohol violations rose from 35 to 50 in the same time frame.

Sometimes, shoplifting cases

are related to drug offenses because the offender is stealing items to

help pay for a drug habit, noted Associate Juvenile Court Judge Tarey

Schell, who is also an attorney in private practice.

Fayette County's entire

juvenile caseload increased last year at 1,834 cases, up from 1,658 the

previous year.

"We're just growing

The increase in drug cases

are particularly of note, Schell added.

"People in Fayette County

seem to think that kids here don't have a drug problem and that's

just not so," Schell said.

Judge Schell and Juvenile Court

Judge A. Ronald Cook work the Griffin Judicial Circuit in Fayette, Spalding,

Upson and Pike counties. Schell, who is on part-time status, originally

started out doing just two days a week in court, but that has increased

to three days a week, sometimes four, Schell said.

With just one full-time and

one part-time judge, the circuit handled 5,190 cases in 2003. Henry County,

judges.

Bibb County, with two full-time

judges, handled 4,613 cases in 2003 while Clayton County's three

full-time judges disposed of 8,957 cases. Fulton County has seven full-time

judges, who took care of 12,000 cases in 2003.

Phyllis Harris, clerk of the

Fayette County Juvenile Court, said her three full-time staffers keep

court sessions running smoothly, aided by the new facility at the Fayette

County Justice Center complex, which features additional rooms so witnesses

for each side can be separated when necessary. Court is held the first

four days of the month for delinquency, deprivation and traffic cases,

with specially-set court dates the rest of the month, Harris said.

And with the increase in cases,

those days in court have become longer, Schell said.

In some cases, a court hearing

must be held within 10 days of the offender being charged, Harris noted.

For offenders who are locked up in a juvenile detention facility, the

first hearing must be held within 48 hours, Schell added.

"Of course, the whole

juvenile court is for the best interest of the child," Schell said.

"It's also for law and order, but to tailor it to the special

needs of the children."

The court also handles some

custody cases which are handed down individually from the county's

Superior Court judges.

"We stay busy," Harris

said.

Judges Schell and Cook are

also on call 24 hours a day for emergency hearings and they are both very

good at being accessible, particularly when needed by law enforcement

personnel, Harris said.

Schell, who lives in Fayette

County, noted that court personnel have all the numbers where they can

reach him by land line phone, cell phone or pager.

"They can't escape

us at all," Harris joked.