LAYTON -- September is National Youth Court Month, and Layton City celebrated with a Youth Court graduation and swearing-in ceremony at Thursday night's city council meeting. "This an outstanding organization that has brought a lot of attention to our community," said Mayor Jerry Stevenson. Several youth stood before the city council and swore to obey and defend the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State and to perform the duties of their office with fidelity. Those who were inducted into the Youth Court began training in April and dedicated many summer afternoons to training.

While all members of the Youth Court were honored with a certificate or pin, Jeff Burton, this year's Youth Court president, received a special honor. He was one of 37 young people named to the National Youth Court Hall of Fame for 2005. Only one other individual from Utah was selected.

Youth Court is a program nationally established to allow youth offenders with no prior history to appear before their peers to be sentenced for misdemeanor crimes. Youth Court has been active in Layton for eight years. Since that time, the young people involved have invested 21,632 volunteer hours in the community and spent more than 2,700 hours in training according to Layton Youth Court coordinator Karlene Peart. Layton's Youth Court recently received the "Big Friend" award for its work with the local Head Start program. The court received a cash award of $500. "It has just been a positive experience," said Stevenson.

Next year, Layton will host the annual Youth Court Conference in the Davis Con-ference Center.