To provide youth the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions through cooperation with their peers and their community

The Lawrence County Teen Court (LCTC) was developed in October 1995 in Lawrence County as the first teen court in the State of South Dakota.  At that time, there were 78 reported youth/teen courts in the nation.  Today, there are proclaimed to be around 1250 youth/teen courts in 49 states.  The LCTC is a 501(c)3 non-profit located in Deadwood, SD.  To date, there are 9 active teen courts in the State of South Dakota.  Court is conducted in the Lawrence County Courthouse on the first and third Monday nights of the month. 

MARLENE TODD | Director

 Marlene is the original Director of the Lawrence County Teen Court in South Dakota.  Along with starting the first active teen court in South Dakota, she was instrumental in developing the South Dakota Teen Court Association in 2003.  She has served on the Executive Board of the South Dakota Teen Court Association since its inception.  Starting in 2006, Marlene has actively worked on the development of the National Association of Youth Courts.  She is currently one of 22 Board of Trustees for the National Association of Youth Courts as well as a national trainer for teen courts.

Marlene has helped facilitate the following National Trainings:

Feb. 2007        Las Vegas, NV         Federal Youth Court Program Double Track Training

June 2007        Ft. Lauderdale, FL    National Youth Court Double Track Training

Dec. 2007        New Orleans, LA       National Youth Court Conference

Marlene also organized two local teen court trainings; the first one in Deadwood in 1999 with state wide participation of interested people. The other was a National Training located in Spearfish.