Leon County will be the first in Florida to give law enforcement officers the ability to ticket adults for some minor crimes instead of arresting them.
That's if the crimes are non-violent and it's a first-time offense.
Civil citations have been used with juvenile offenders instead of putting them behind bars, with success. About 90 percent of kids who get citations and then go through a diversion program instead of to a lock-up, go on to stay out of trouble.