State
of Florida
Office of the State Attorney
16th Judicial Circuit
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Office of the State Attorney 16th Judicial Circuit
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Criminal Justice System Overview Employment Opportunities |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 1, 2006 Spring Break Court in Session Hoteliers, restaurateurs and shopkeepers are not the only people in Key West preparing for the annual onslaught known as Spring Break. Monroe County’s judiciary and law enforcement communities are also gearing up for the jump in alcohol-related offences they normally see during the March vacation. Starting March 6, Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco agents along with Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Key West Police Department officers will patrol Key West’s beaches, streets and bars for errant spring breakers. Those they nab – and last year they numbered in the hundreds – will visit a provisional court designed especially for them: Spring Break Court. Spring Break Court was created in Key West in 1991. “Our purpose was twofold,” said J. Jefferson Overby, Chief Assistant to State Attorney Mark Kohl. Then Chief Judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit, Overby helped develop the diversion program. “Spring Break Court benefited both our court system and our young visiting offenders.” Overby explained that hundreds of misdemeanor cases each spring -- such as altering ID’s to buy alcoholic beverages and disorderly intoxication -- flooded an already saturated court system. Most of the offences were committed by young vacationers who “exercised poor judgment,” rather than by hardened criminals according to Overby. Spring Break Court siphons those cases away from the regular court system into a parallel judiciary process. Felonies or violent crimes are not eligible for Spring Break Court consideration; neither are second-time offenders. Spring Breakers contesting charges against them also go though the regular court system. For its part, the Monroe County State Attorney’s office has agreed not to pursue more serious sentences for wayward spring breakers. “We believe that most of the kids who have committed spring break misdemeanors are good kids who have made an isolated mistake,” said State Attorney Mark Kohl. “We want them to learn from that mistake, but not to leave Key West with the burden of a criminal record.” Youths picked up for misdemeanor offences are taken to Old City Hall to be booked, fingerprinted and photographed. MCSO and KWPD officers pin Polaroids to a “wall of shame” making it easier for them to spot second-time offenders. Busted spring breakers must appear at 8:00 AM at the Key West Courthouse – hangovers notwithstanding. And often that court appearance comes just hours after a young vacationer’s arrest. Spring Break Court is in session seven days a week and arrest warrants are issued for no-shows. The errant vacationers may then choose to pay fines and court costs of $230 or to perform eight hours of community service -- usually cleaning the beaches and streets littered by fellow tourists. Most choose to work. Offenders are issued orange jumpsuits and served a boxed jail lunch during their service. Overby recalls the days when the orange Monroe County Corrections tee-shirts became such sought-after “badges of honor” that spring breakers went to great lengths to keep them. Jumpsuits are now carefully accounted for at the end of every shift. Whether they choose to pay or to work, spring breakers who meet the terms of the court are not convicted of a crime – allowing them to avoid legal fees and return trips to Key West for court dates. They also leave town without the unhappy souvenir of a criminal record. Spring Break Court is in session through March 24. |
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Last modified:
10/23/07
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