Fairness, Respect, Integrity, Innovation and Safety January 2017

Judicial Branch News LLRC Grand Opening

Story on Page 3

Judicial Branch NewsThe Judicial Branch News is an online newsletter published by the Media Relations Department.

Contributing WritersDr. Christopher Bleuenstein

Todd Hererra-Ridenhour Michelle Dunivan

Contributing EditorsKaren Arra

Vincent FunariMary Byrnes

Dennis CarpenterMichelle DunivanMary VyvermanKellie Therriault

Clara ColmeneroNorma Quiroz

Features3 LLRC Grand Opening

4 Commissioner Retirement

5 Employee Anniversaries

6 Fingerprinting in the South Court Tower

7 Strategic Projects Spotlight

8 Pro Tem Recruitment

Vol 11 Issue 1 Contents

January 2017

Pg 2

Happy

New Year!

3 LLRC Grand Opening

4 Commissioner Retirement

5 Employee Anniversaries

6 Fingerprinting in the South Court Tower

7 Strategic Projects Spotlight

8 Pro Tem Recruitment

Pg 3

Court News

LLRC Grand Opening

Superior Court’s Law Library Resource Center has a new home.

On February 10, the Superior Court will host the LLRC grand opening. The event will include a ribbon-cutting, tours and remarks from Presiding Judge Janet Barton, Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Denny Barney.

On January 9, the court opened the LLRC to the public in the newly-renovated space that used to be the Change of Venue. The new resource center provides excellent customer service to those who need legal information and assistance with matters in the Superior Court.

The new LLRC features large customer service desks, numerous public computers, a training room with audio visual capabilities and a conference room. In addition, all staff offices will be accessible from the LLRC, creating a welcoming and helpful atmosphere for those members of the public who need legal information.

Protective orders will continue to be processed in the LLRC with a domestic violence advocate on site.

The new LLRC is equipped with a Clerk of the Court filing counter so patrons filing protective orders have the ability to file their documents in the same area.

The LLRC is located at 101 W. Jefferson in Downtown Phoenix.

Pg 4

Court News

Fingerprint Technology

By Todd Herrera-Ridenhour

Commissioner Retirement

Trevor Rowland uses the new electronic printing system at the bailiff desk in the South Court Tower.

On January 27, Commissioner Charlie Donofrio will retire from the bench.

He began with the court on March 5, 2007 after a long and distinguished career at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Since then, he has spent his entire 10 years on the bench in the criminal department.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Charlie for his years of service to the bench and wish him well in

retirement,” Presiding Judge Janet Barton said.

To fill the vacancy created by Commissioner Donofrio’s retirement, Judge Barton appointed attorney Marvin Davis. Since 2000, Davis has been operating his own firm. He also worked three years for the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. Davis received his Juris Doctor from Arizona State University College of Law in 2004.

Comm. Charlie Donofrio

The pilot testing for the electronic fingerprinting component of the iCISng eSentencing application is underway. The electronic fingerprint reader, installed in several courtrooms, replaces the ink and roll process currently used to collect fingerprints in the courtroom. The new technology also allows the instant sharing of fingerprints with criminal justice partners and gives clerks the ability to generate a realtime order that replaces the old sentencing minute entry.

Investiture Ceremony

Maricopa County Bar Association President Elect Hon. Geoffrey Fish presented Judge Erin Otis her ceremonial gavel during her investiture ceremony.

Pg 4

Employee Anniversaries

Court News

Pg 5

5 YearsCortney Norton, Adult Probation Officer

Rosanne Coloccia, Arizona Lengthy Trial Fund Coordinator Ginger Rodas, Judicial Clerk Lead Leah Kyle, Judicial Clerk Senior Amy Baker, Registered Nurse

Marco Garcia, Bailiff Jody Fisher, Management Analyst

Richard Woods, Deputy Court Administrator Kate Richards, Work Crew Leader

William Danyluk, Programmer/Analyst - Sr/Ld 10 Years

Yvette Martinez, Presentence Screener Dale Morley, Adult Probation Officer

Jessy Summers, Management Analyst Susan Regan, Legal Forms Specialist

Ericka Mathis, General Laborer William Grimes, Presentence Screener

Sandra Cumming, Adult Probation Officer Demetrius Edwards, Adult Probation Officer

Omar Mayen, Juvenile Detention Officer Supervisor Araceli Ambert, Judicial Clerk Supervisor

Cristina Chavez-Alvarado, Conference Officer James Newlin, Court Interpreter

Clayton Hunt, Adult Probation Officer Molly Bustos, Judicial Assistant

Gregory Fryson, Juvenile Probation Officer Carina Ingram, Juvenile Detention Officer James Ingram, Juvenile Detention Officer Peter Thompson, Superior Court Judge

Charles Adornetto, Judicial Education Officer Linda Hernandez, Judicial Assistant

Scott Herrmann, Psychologist John Marshall, Forms Assistant Program Specialist

15 Years Mitzi Ruiz-Moreno,Juvenile Probation Officer Jennifer Steinkamp,Juvenile Probation Officer

Richard Nothwehr,Court Commissioner Treva Colwell,Court Reporter

Connie Contes,Superior Court Judge Andrew Gongora,Surveillance Officer

Scott Herrmann,Psychologist John Marshall,Forms Assistant Program Specialist

20 Years Kristi Dallmann, Judicial Staff Trainer/Coordinator

25 YearsScott Hoffman, Judicial Clerk Senior

Scott Coniam, Court Reporter30 Years

Kimberly Law-Woods, Juvenile Probation Officer Meri Romero, Adult Probation Officer

31 Years Gary Egbert, Juvenile Probation Officer Kate Hansen, Juvenile Probation Officer

33 Years Sheila Copalman, Judicial Assistant

Security Awards

Judicial Branch Security Department

Quarterly Award Winners, Oct. thru Dec. - 2016:

Security Officer of the Quarter, Downtown Region:

Officer Conrad Chavez

Security Officer of the Quarter, East Region:

Officer Benedict Maston

Security Officer of the Quarter, West Region:

Officer Emad Ragab

Security Officer of the Quarter, Probation Department Region:

Officer Brett Halperin

Court News

Pg 6

Satellite Office for Fingerprinting Opens in South Court Tower

By Dr. Christopher BleuensteinCriminal Department Administrator

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) collects fingerprints from out-of-custody defendants and public servants (court staff, teachers, etc.), from the 4th floor of the West Court Building. Many of the out-of-custody defendants requiring fingerprinting originate from hearings on the 2nd and 3rd floors located in the South Court Tower. The judicial complex can be confusing to navigate, especially for individuals coming here for the first time. Criminal Department Administration recognized through data analysis that some defendants sent for fingerprinting were not accomplishing that task. In an effort to make the process more convenient to the public, Criminal Department Administration, in collaboration with MCSO, opened a satellite office for fingerprint collection on Tuesday, January 3, 2017, in the South Court Tower on the 2nd floor, just south of the elevators. This project aligns with the Judicial Branch Strategic Focus Area #1: Access to Justice and Delivery of Services.

We would like to extend a special thank you to Commander Julie Ahlquist and Roberta “Bert” Stegen with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for making this project possible.

Left to right - MCSO employees Julie Ahlquist and Roberta “Bert” Stegen

MCSO’s William Cook and Elizabeth Hernandez demonstrate the fingerprinting process.

Court News

Pg 7

Strategic Projects Spotlight

After more than 20 years of service, Pat Schuler, long time judicial assistant to former Presiding Judge Norman Davis and current Presiding Judge Janet Barton, left Maricopa County Superior Court on January 13 to work for newly-appointed Arizona Supreme Court Justice John R. Lopez.

During her career with Superior Court, Schuler has served on every rotation as a judicial assistant. Prior to joining the court in 1995, she worked as Judge Davis’ secretary when he was a lawyer in private practice.

Terry Hurtado replaced Schuler and works alongside Rachel Carreras as one of Judge Barton’s judicial assistants. Hurtado has been working as a management assistant for the court’s deputy court administrators and legal counsel for the past year. Previously, she worked as a legal assistant for a local attorney for six years.

First impressions are often the most important. Research has shown that this age-old saying and decisions that follow can have significant implications on our justice system. For many, adult or youth, their first interaction with the Judicial Branch is an assessment officer tasked with recommending whether or not that individual can remain in the community pending subsequent court hearings. National and local analysis has shown that remaining in custody can work counter to public safety and can be costly to the public. Conversely, not attending a future court date or re-offending is inefficient for the judicial system, impacts public safety and can reduce confidence in the justice system.

As such, APD and JPD were tasked with addressing pretrial and predisposition outcomes under the Strategic Project Focus Area #2: Procedural Fairness, Effective Case Management and Efficient Operations. Given the unique differences between criminal and juvenile court, APD and JPD worked separately yet focused on the same key measures: failure to appear (FTA) and re-offense.

JPD has focused efforts on defining and reliably measuring these outcomes consistent with a culture of innovation and supporting existing predisposition outcomes. Based on available pre-disposition re-offense data, changes were made with significant support from the County Attorney’s Office to reduce the number of days that elapse for youth not in secure custody. Initial outcomes analysis shows a 21% reduction of the re-offense rate. The next steps for JPD and Court Administration are to collaborate with CTS to improve FTA data collection and further analyze the impact of the process changes.

APD has focused their attention on supporting more structured decision-making grounded in evidence based practices. The Initial Appearance Court utilizes a validated risk assessment developed by the Arnold Foundation to predict FTA, new criminal activity and new violent criminal activity to inform release decisions. For Chief Broderick of APD, this project is especially important because by using evidence based practices “we are making consistent changes to our organizational culture in support of practices that produce the best results.” These changes have already produced positive outcomes. For the second six months of implementation, the application of the Public Safety Assessment resulted in 44% more own recognizant (OR) releases and 23% more supervised releases consistent with the assessment tool recommendations. The next phase of this project is to assess the FTA and re-offense data associated with these releases.

The Judicial Branch Mission is evident in these initiatives in that they attempt to “provide a safe, fair and impartial forum for resolving disputes,” as well as “innovative, evidence based programs that improve the safety of our community.” Chief Broderick also recognizes that “[t]he willingness to implement the [Public Safety Assessment] tool highlights the commitment of the Judicial Branch to innovation and to using new tools to help achieve its goals. It has been implemented to help ensure that throughout the pretrial process individuals are treated with respect and that the decisions made are fair.”

Pat Schuler

Longtime Judicial Assistant Says Farewell

By Adult Probation Chief Barbara Broderick, Juvenile Probation Chief Eric Meaux and Michelle Dunivan

Pg 8

Court News