HomeMy WebLinkAbout20132372.tiffWELD COUNTY
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
Date: April 30, 2013
Present: (From sign in sheet) Judge James Hartmann, Judge Michele Meyer, Nicole
Morrill, Ryan Broswell, Bobby Allen, Dionne Grinde, Kendall Alexander, JD
Pyatt, Steve Reams, Sterling Geesaman, Cynthia Villegas, Michael McCormick,
Doug Erler, Kamie Cooley, Kevin Strobel, Carl Alm, Rich Wayman, Matt Elbe
Chair, Judge Hartmann called the meeting to order at 12:09 p.m.
Because there was no quorum, Judge Hartmann declared that no formal actions could be taken at
that time; general discussion ensued.
1. Meeting Minutes:
A. The January meeting minutes were reviewed with formal acceptance to be made
at the July 9, 2013 meeting.
2. Subcommittee Reports:
A. Sheriffs Office Jail Reports - Bureau Chief Sterling Geesaman reported on Weld
County Jail Admission Information, Offender Supervision Bureau Trend Charts,
and YTD Adult Custody Summary Reports. Additionally, he reported that traffic
cases and bench warrants have increased. Judge Hartmann thanked Sterling for
tracking most notably booking numbers and the jail bed count; keeping numbers
below the cap eliminates mandatory release decree concerns.
B. Commander Rich Wayman introduced Ryan Broswell. Ryan has been designated
to now oversee Alternative Programs with assignment at the Work Release
facility. Rich will now return to duties at the Main Jail. He reported that for the
first quarter of 2013, overall orders to alternative programs decreased by 8%,
Work Release numbers increased by 12%, with Home Detention intakes
decreasing by 6%.
C. Kamie Cooley from Weld County Justice Services introduced herself, and
reported that for first quarter 2013, the Pretrial Services staff completed and
submitted to Judicial Officers, 145 defendant risk assessments, and completed 117
supervision intakes on defendants ordered to pretrial supervision as condition of
their bonds (125 intakes by case). In terms of performance, she reported that
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based on 154 cases closed during this quarter, the program maintained a public
safety rate of 93.9% (6.1% of defendants had some level of new criminal contact
with law enforcement) and a court appearance rate of 89.4% (10.6 % defendants
failed to appear for court that resulted in a warrant).
D. Kendall Alexander from North Range Behavioral Health reported that the Mental
Health/Criminal Justice Interagency Group is finalizing its review of our local
criminal justice continuum identifying where persons with mental illness
intercept. This group includes representatives from criminal justice and mental
health entities and meets regularly to identify and discuss how people with mental
illness are processed by our criminal justice systems. He reported that at the
CJAC's next meeting in July, this group would like to present its work with
recommendations for future action. A particular area of interest is to discuss the
concept of creating "mobile crisis intervention services" in unison with NRBH
and law enforcement. The State of Nebraska employs such a model. Kendall said
he is working with a gentleman from that state to give a future presentation of
their work to the CJAC. Kendall also touched on current legislation that may
earmark funds to support such an initiative. He will continue to monitor this bill
and report findings to this group. CJAC attendees voiced support to continue this
discussion and of the importance of evaluating and strengthening our local
services. It was agreed to carry over this item to the July meeting.
3. Old Business:
A. Judge Hartmann reported that the Weld County Board of Commissioners
approved the newly revised CJAC Bylaws and that this group now has updated
governing rules and authorities. Please note that composition of the CJAC has
been modified with more clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Lastly, the
BOCC has designated administrative support of the CJAC to its Justice Services
Division. Thank you to Nicole Morrill from the Sheriffs Office for her
tremendous work to support the CJAC over the years!
All attendees were encouraged to review the Bylaws and bring them back to their
respective agencies.
B. Considering the lack of a quorum, Judge Hartmann tabled nominations for Vice -
Chair to the July meeting. If interested to serve, all are encouraged to attend the
July meeting.
4. New Business:
A. With no quorum, no new business was discussed.
5. Roundtable:
A. Judge Hartmann commented on House Bill 1236. This new legislation, likely to
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be signed into law, concerns changes to bail and bond setting practices. For Weld
County/19`h JD purposes, review and discussion of current misdemeanor bond
schedule may need to occur. He is looking to meet with applicable parties when
(if) the bill is passed.
B. In response to the tragic death of DOC Executive Director, Tom Clements the
State Court Administrators Office and judicial districts are now conducting file
audits to ensure overall accuracy of orders made with particular attention to
concurrent vs. consecutive sentences. He reported that all cases sent to Parole
within 30 days are being audited first. JD Pyatt from Parole concurred with Judge
Hartmann saying that Parole operations are also being audited for overall quality
control. Judge Hartmann reported that depending on the case type, access to
information and review of transcripts this work is laborsome.
C. Bureau Chief, Steve Reams from the Sheriffs Office reported that due to the
recent closing of PsychCare, his office has witnessed an uptick in patrol calls of
persons displaying mental illness as well as an increase in admissions to the jail.
In relation to the earlier discussion by attendees on this subject and pursuant to
Steve's comments, Judge Haihnann volunteered to send an email to the Board of
County Commissioners inviting them to attend the July 9`h meeting to learn more
on this subject.
Addendum: Judge Hartmann sent email correspondence on April 30th 2013 to
Commissioners Garcia and Conway.
D. Kevin Strobel from the Public Defender's Office asked if the Courts are
considering further the creation of a Mental Health Court. Judge Hartmann
reported that adding a Specialty Court of this kind and at this time would likely
require shifting resources away from other areas of the Court, but that preliminary
discussions have occurred between Mr. Buck and Judge Hartmann regarding
creating a Veteran's Treatment Court. Mr. Buck will be obtaining information
regarding possible grants to fund such a court and the anticipated number of
clients who would participate in Veteran's Court, and then provide this
information to Judge Hartmann. Attendees as a whole agreed that losing the
resource of PsychCare is affecting our criminal justice systems and is putting a
strain most notably on the jail and hospital. Steve reported that several jail staff
has been assaulted since the change, and Kevin commented that his office
recently completed a safety plan for his staff in response to some credible threats.
Kendall from NRBH commented on the history of PsychCare, indicating that to
sustain a viable business plan such a facility must maintain a certain bed count.
PsychCare (Banner) was apparently unable to meet these thresholds and many
new intakes were non-paying customers. While a complex dilemma, Doug Erler
from Weld County Justice Services concluded the discussion by saying he felt
discussion by the CJAC is important and should be continued and included on the
July 9th meeting agenda.
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With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:15 PM.
The next meeting of the CJAC is Tuesday July 9, 2013 @ 12:00 PM.
A meeting location will be sent to members prior to this date.
Respectfully submitted,
Y
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Kamie Cooley Doug Erler
Pretrial Services Supervisor, Justice Services Director, Justice Services
Approved by,
May 7, 2013
ames Hartmann, Chair Date
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