Community service at the Aurora Municipal Court is a court order in which the defendant is allowed to work off court fines at a rate of $15 per hour with any nonprofit community agency. The Aurora Municipal Court Probation Division handles all court ordered community service and will provide a comprehensive list of nonprofit agencies at the time of set up.

UPS teens helped with the city's annual Household Chemical Roundup event.

Useful Public Service Program

Youth between the ages of 13 and 16 years old who are in school full time may be sentenced to the Useful Public Service program. This program was started to 2008 in an effort to demonstrate to young people the associated costs of their misdeeds. The Useful Public Service program was developed through an approach to justice called “restorative justice,” which focuses on the needs of victims and the community as well as the offender. The program is administered by the Aurora Municipal Courts Probation Division. Restorative justice is similar to community service with added components of mentoring and teaching life skills. Parents/guardians of the youth must be able to participate in scheduled program activities.

The Useful Public Service program consists of five sections engineered to continue positive pro-social attributes while lowering negative risk factors habitually exercised into youths' everyday routine. They are: history of restorative justice; restorative justice vs. retributive justice, victim; offender and society affected by juvenile crime; risk factors and protectant factors; and discipline vs. punishment.

The goal of restorative justice is to hold the offender accountable for his or her actions, provide victims with an opportunity to be a part of the justice process, and to repair the harm they have done either by apologizing, returning the stolen objects or participating in community service.

The Useful Public Service program not only provides community services, but also offers classes for youth participating in the UPS program, as well as a workshop for parents whose youth are involved in the juvenile system. Empowering Parents for Success is a separate program for parents with children in the Useful Public Service program that provides additional support and education about what restorative justice is and some reasons of why youth get involved in criminal activity.

For more information, call 303.739.6497.

Frequently Asked Questions

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