A weeklong juvenile justice unit provided in local ninth grade health classes enhances the training. The curriculum uses the Juvenile Justice Handbook , addressing various aspects of juvenile law and includes presentations by representatives from the police, probation department, and peer court. Salt Lake City, Utah, uses a Peer Jury Model, in which seven peer court students question an offender and his or her parents and determine a sentence. The intensity of the training is considered essential to ensure that the student volunteers from various neighborhoods and socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds will be able to work together compatibly. The student volunteers receive an additional four-hour training session in peer mediation.
Some teen courts train volunteer jurors as well as officers of the court.
A training session is held before each weekly court session. Jurors, offenders, and their parents learn what court procedures are followed, how to assess the demeanor of those who testify, and what discussion topics are appropriate during deliberation. All offenders must serve one to four evenings of jury duty, and they constitute at least half of each jury. Up to twelve cases are heard each evening, and the court sessions are organized so that all jurors who are not hearing or deliberating a case observe the other cases being held. Learning by observing is considered a key part of training for both jurors and court officers.