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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTCA 1999-02-22 Minutes City of North Richland Hills Teen Court Advisory Board Meeting Minutes February 22, 1999 Present- Ron Moore, Luci Wolfe, Kathy Graves, Oscar Trevino, Cherie Redenbaugh, Jim Wilkins, and Debbie Durko. Meeting Called to Order- 6:00 Old Business- Teen Court Scholarship-The members of the board advised that only one teen attorney is eligible for the scholarship this year. It was determined that a maximum of $1000.00 would be awarded to an individual. The remainder of monies in the Teen Court Scholarship Fund will be retained for distribution at a later date. New Business- Changes in Paperwork for Teen Court-The coordinator advised the board members that she is attempting to streamline the process of teen court and has implemented changes in the paperwork. This has been implemented in order to complete the majority of the paperwork prior to teen court and avoid long waiting lines on teen court night. The board agreed that the changes were in order and approved them. Dress Code for Defendants-The coordinator advised board members that it had been brought to her attention that some defendants had body piercing in visible places (i.e. nose, eyebrow, mouth, etc). The defendants are unable to remove the pierced objects as they are permanently attached. It was unanimously agreed that Teen Court will provide covering (band-aids) for those defendants. Other issues relating to dress were addressed and it was agreed that Teen Court will adopt the BISD dress code with the exception of earrings for males. BISD allows males to wear a single stud earring. Dress Code for Teen Court Attorneys-The coordinator had a request from a teen court attorney to wear tennis shoes. The board unanimously rejected the idea and agreed that teen attorney's attire should set an example for defendants. Advisory Board List-The coordinator did not have a current roster for the advisory board. The members updated the list. Juror Name Tags-There was discussion on implementation of a different system for Juror Name Tags due to the wastefulness of the current system. The board agreed to postpone a decision on this for the time being due to extensive paperwork changes already in place. Teen Court Docket-The coordinator advised the board that the docket was backlogged and asked for suggestions to expedite cases without overloading the docket. A suggestion was made to plea Teen Curfew citations offering the defendant 40 community service hours with the defendant having the option of requesting a trial if he did not agree. It was agreed that this is a temporary measure only due to the backlog of cases. Master Jury-Some board members advised that they were not pleased with the current master jury operation. The coordinator advised that she would attend other local teen courts and compare systems to see if improvements could be made. Adjournment 8:00 p.m.