UNIT I - GENERAL PROVISIONS

I. Liability to Officials and Employees (705 ILCS 405/1-12): When dealing with a juvenile who was taken into custody and given a station adjustment by a juvenile police officer or other disposition to include court, peer jury, mediation program, a juvenile may be required to perform community service. When this is done, questions about liability generally surface. The Juvenile Court Act addresses the issue as follows:

Neither the State, any unit of local government, probation department, public or community service program or site, nor any official, volunteer, or employee thereof acting in the course of their official duties shall be liable for any injury or loss a child might receive while performing public or community service if it was ordered either (1) by the court or (2) by any duly authorized station or probation adjustment, teen court, community mediation, or other administrative diversion program authorized by this Act; Nor shall any of the mentioned be liable for any tortious acts of any person performing public or community service, except for willful, wanton misconduct or gross negligence on the part of that unit. Under 1-13, no minor assigned to a public or community service program by either the court or any authorized diversion program shall be considered an employee for any purpose or any type of compensation.

Example #1: A minor is assigned to perform community service at a police department. The minor is injured when he falls while performing the community service duties assigned to him by a Juvenile Police Officer during a Station Adjustment. In such a situation, neither the Officer nor his or her agency are liable for the minor's injury.

If an Officer had a minor perform skilled work using special power tools or equipment, however, he or she could be found liable if the minor were injured while trying to perform the work. There would be a reasonable expectation that the minor not be endangered by these assigned duties. For example, an Officer would never have a minor cleaning windows on a 50-story building or cleaning the agency's armory or weapons due to the potential dangers in doing so.