How does the Hartford Community Court work?
The court gets involved after the arrest or summons of an individual by one of the six local police departments where we have jurisdiction. We are not a neighborhood type of court per se; we have not only the city of Hartford but also five of the suburban towns that fall within our jurisdiction. The total population for our district is approximately 250,000. Cases range from town ordinance violations in Hartford—which include the possession and riding of pocket motorcycles, loitering, and aggressive panhandling—all the way up state criminal violations of shoplifting, disorderly conduct, interfering with a police officer, prostitution, soliciting prostitution and minor possession of marijuana. All of those can be punished by up to one year in jail. The town ordinance violations can be punished by up to 25 days in jail. Once the defendants arrive here, they come before me after meeting with the prosecutor and are offered the chance to plead guilty or innocent to the underlying charge. Fo
