SARASOTA COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION

Transcription

1 Criminal Justice Commission Members in attendance: David Bullock Larry Eger Lee Haworth Tom Knight Bill Little Ed Brodsky for Earl Moreland Daryl Promey Christine Robinson Karen Rushing Walt Smith Sarasota County Government Public Defender, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Sarasota County Sheriff s Office State Attorney, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Department of Corrections Sarasota Board of County Commissioners Clerk of the Circuit Court Court Administrator, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Others in attendance: Brooke Baker Skip Berg Sarasota County Bar Association Elmer Berkel Human Services Advisory Council Dale Block Julie Clemons Claudia Coville Ed Eagen Pride Phil Gorelick Kevin Kenney Clifford Klaus First Step of Sarasota Mike Lehner Sarasota County Technical Institute Terry Lewis City of North Port Jim Lilly William Mansell SarasotaPatch Pam Meunier Jared Padgett Riverview High School Nancy Page First Step of Sarasota Kim Pfeil Sarasota County Government Barbara Richards Project 180 Ed Scott North Port Sun Tom Shanafent Sarasota Police Department Paul Sutton Sarasota Police Department Charlie Thorpe Dan Valentino Kevin Vespia City of North Port Police Department Al Vogle Longboat Key Police Department Dale White Sarasota Herald-Tribune Stan Zimmerman Pelican Press Page 1

2 Staff: Wayne Applebee Chip Taylor Judge Haworth welcomed attendees. Self-introductions were made by the Criminal Justice Commission members. A motion was made by Dave Bullock and seconded by Walt Smith to approve the meeting summary for December 6, 2010 without correction. The motion was approved unanimously. JAG-ARRA Program Update Mentors for Success Phil Gorelick, (JFCS), introduced the Mentors for Success program. Dale Block, also from JFCS, did a PowerPoint presentation on the status of the program. Volunteers are matched with inmates who connect them with services in the community and provide mentoring support after release from jail. A participant from the program, Julie Clemons, spoke about the impact of the program on her recovery and successful reintegration into the community. JFCS is actively seeking additional funds to support the program after the JAG funding is exhausted. Operation Copperhead Sheriff Knight noted that thefts of recyclable metals (gold, copper, etc.) are on the increase in every jurisdiction in Sarasota County primarily due to the easy cash made by selling the items to pawn shops, metal recyclers, and second hand dealers. These dealers are severely under-monitored in Sarasota County. Correcting this issue will require a revision to the current Second hand Dealers ordinance. Sheriff Knight introduced Lt. Charlie Thorpe (SSO) and Det. Dan Valentino (SSO) who made a presentation on the legal and procedural changes being proposed. Det. Valentino advised that a full packet of the information he presented, including the proposed ordinance, is available if anyone is interested. They asked the CJC to support their request to the County Commission for an ordinance revision to enhance the regulation of second hand dealers. A motion was made by Ed Brodsky and seconded by Walt Smith to that effect. Commissioner Robinson requested the Sheriff s Office involve second hand stakeholders prior to presenting the ordinance revision to the Board of County Commissioners. Judge Haworth abstained from the vote. The motion passed unanimously. Prescription Drug Misuse Initiatives Update Wayne Applebee introduced the topic by providing statistics on the social impact of prescription drug misuse in Sarasota County. Discussion ensued regarding the CJC sending a letter to the legislature in support of the prescription drug monitoring program. Page 2

3 It was moved by Larry Eger that the CJC write a letter to Senate President Haridopolous, House Speaker Cannon and every member of the cabinet and the governor of our support of the prescription drug monitoring program. The motion was seconded by Karen Rushing and passed unanimously. Judge Haworth requested that staff draft a letter that includes the data termed collateral damage as well as any other supporting data for his review and signature. Dr. Brooke Baker updated the CJC on the multi-county partnership developed with CHIP (Community Health Improvement Partnership) stakeholders against prescription drug misuse. A series of continuing education courses will be provided in April for health professionals to increase their awareness of the issue. Also, staff has been advised by the County Attorney s Office that the moratorium on pain clinics will expire in June. The County will be working on an Ordinance to be put into place once the moratorium expires. Legislative Updates Wayne Applebee indicated that the County is watching several bills being worked on relating to justice. There are some bills being worked on at the state level regarding juvenile justice detention cost share, limiting county authority to develop ordinances related to fire arms, etc. He will bring updates on these issues to the CJC as they develop. Judge Haworth noted a number of proposals being made by the Governor that will restrict funding to the courts. While the Governor is not proposing any cuts to the number of judges, the cuts being proposed to administrative and legal staffs will severely impact the operation of the courts, particularly in the civil and probate courts. CJC Resolution Revision Discussion Wayne Applebee explained that this item is being brought back to discuss the language of the resolution relating to the Chief Judge since there is a potential that the next Chief Judge may not be from Sarasota County. Based on his proposed language change from the last meeting, he received several comments. Commissioner Thaxton, who could not be present today, expressed the opinion that the CJC should be led by a judge or someone from the criminal justice system. However, if the CJC felt it would be better for a Commissioner to head the Council that he would be willing to do so. Since the last CJC meeting, Judge Andy Owen has been selected as the new Chief Judge. Judge Owen is from Sarasota County which gives the CJC more time to make a decision relative to changes to the resolution. Page 3

4 Wayne noted that other housekeeping items related to current operating procedures will be addressed in a revised resolution as well. He asked that the CJC vote on those items and withhold vote on the Chair until a later date. Judge Haworth noted that some change in the CJC meeting schedule will need to be made, during the legislative session, due to some requirements on him by the Supreme Court. Monday s are not a good day to meet. Friday s may be a better option. He will leave it to staff to come up with a new meeting schedule. Judge Haworth requested that staff come back at the next meeting with a written proposal to include the options for Chair to include (1) the Chief Judge no matter what county, (2) Chief Judge or his/her designee, (3) nomination and selection of the Chair by the CJC itself, and (4) other options that anyone brings forward. Discussion ensued regarding the development of a circuit-wide CJC. Chip Taylor suggested that staff come back to the CJC with the composition of such a committee. This could add approximately five seats to the CJC but would replace the Public Safety Coordinating Councils in both Manatee and DeSoto. Judge Haworth agreed that this should be brought back at a future meeting. Staff Updates Sarasota was not selected for an invitation to the National Criminal Justice Council Network but will receive any data resulting from the effort. The Drug Court evaluation is ongoing. A preliminary report is due in the next week. The Juvenile Assessment Center evaluation is also ongoing. Based on the scope of work adopted, USF has come to an agreement that they will need to change their methodology to incorporate a physical case review to accomplish the task. Also, the staff member from USF involved in the project has left the university. A new staff member will be working on the project in the future. The misdemeanor probation contract will be addressed at the March 29 BCC meeting. The BCC will be requested to terminate the contract with the existing vendor and approve the advertisement of a new RFP. The current vendor will not be prohibited from bidding on the new contract assuming they meet the criteria in the new scope of services. Since 2004, Sarasota County has been doing Crisis Intervention Team Training for law enforcement. Wayne provided written data on the number of officers and others that have been trained. He advised that 183 law enforcement officers and 21 non-law enforcement staff at the Sheriff s Office have been trained. They are in the process of scheduling the last of three sessions to be held in Page 4

5 With regard to the Jail Reports, there was a 56% increase in felony probation violations which is unusual. Other than that, the numbers are up only slightly over last year at this time. The average length of stay is down from last year. Page 5

6 New Business No new business. Public Comment No public comment. Next Meeting The next regular meeting of the Criminal Justice Commission is scheduled for March 28, 2011 at 12:00 noon in the Think Tank, 3 rd floor, 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota. Page 6