Steven C. Teske

Judge Steven C. Teske was the Chief Judge of the Juvenile Court of Clayton County, GA. He was appointed juvenile court judge in 1999 and additionally served as a Superior Court Judge by designation presiding over civil and criminal matters. Prior to taking the Bench, he was a partner in the firm of Boswell & Teske, LLP and served as a Special Assistant Attorney General prosecuting child abuse and neglect matters in juvenile court as well as defending state employees and agencies in federal and state courts. Upon retirement from the Bench, Teske relocated to his birthplace of Tucson, AZ. and is legal counsel for the Department of Social Services for the Pascua Yaqui Pueblo Tribe. He is also a consultant to juvenile courts and justice systems on systemic transformation to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and improve outcomes for youth.

Teske has testified before Congress on four (4) occasions and several state legislatures on detention reform, zero tolerance policies in schools, juvenile justice reform, juvenile justice grant accountability, child welfare reform, and the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act re-authorization.

Teske served as a Litigative Expert for the U.S. Department of Justice in the “School-to-Prison Pipeline” case, United States of America v. Meridian, et. al. resulting in a consent decree mandating sweeping reforms of school disciplinary practices that were harmful to kids of color.

Three Georgia governors have appointed him to several statewide boards over the years, including the Children and Youth Coordinating Council, Governor’s Office for Children and Families, DJJ Judicial Advisory Council, JDAI Statewide Steering Committee, Georgia Commission on Family Violence, Georgia Council on Child Welfare Reform, and the Georgia Commission on Criminal Justice Reform. He served two terms on the Federal Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and is a past National Chair of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. He is a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and has served on the Board of Directors. He is past president of the Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges and the Clayton County Bar Association.

He has written several articles on juvenile justice and child welfare reform published in the Juvenile and Family Law Journal, Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, Juvenile Justice and Family Today, Family Court Review, Georgia Law Review, and the Georgia Bar Journal. His book, Reform Juvenile Justice Now, is a collection of essays on juvenile justice issues.

Judge Teske is the 2018 recipient of the Juvenile Law Center Leadership Prize Award. He has received numerous awards and recognitions including Romae T.Powell Award from the Juvenile Court Association of Georgia, Clayton County NAACP Community Service Award, Howard K. Ables Award from the Georgia Juvenile Services Association, 2013 Alumni Award of the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, Distinguished Alumni Award of Clayton State University, and the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children.

He is a Toll Fellow of the Council of State Governments and received his J.D., M.A., and B.I.S. degrees from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA. Judge Teske taught as an adjunct law professor at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, GA. He is currently an adjunct professor at Pima Community College in Tucson teaching criminal justice studies and business law and authored the course and curriculum on Race, Crime, and Justice.