Juvenile Justice Systems Committee

min083017.pdf (121 KB)

Members present:     Jeff Bindl, Mike Albrecht, Mindy Mattson, Ruth Browning, Judge Klicko, Kara Rolf, Jeff Weiler

Members absent:      Meg Sage and Ryan Ramnarace, Karen DeSanto Jim Daniels, Dan Brattset, Deb O’Rourke

Others Present:                    

1. Call to Order - 3:05pm with six members present (Bindl, Albrecht, Browning, Matteson, Weiler, Klicko, Jeff Bindl certified compliance with open meeting law.

2. Adopt agenda - Motion by Browning and seconded by Weiler.  Motion carried 6-0.

3. Approval of Minutes from previous meeting(s) - deferred.  We are still missing meeting minutes from our last two meetings.  O'Rourke and Rolf took these meeting minutes respectively and we will need to get something from the two of them to approve at a later meeting date.

4. Public Comment - None.

5. Communications - Ruth Browning shared a publication titled Juvenile Offenders & Victims Report - 2014.  It contains national statistics that the committee can review at a future meeting date.

6. Discussion Regarding Truancy Court - The city of Baraboo has revamped their truancy policy and it will be implemented on September 1st, 2017.  The highlights of the changes is that the city attorney's office will now be handling all the habitual truancy cases from the Baraboo School District.  The DA's office will no longer be involved.  The new policy would also require that individuals that receive truancy citations would need to reappear in court on a monthly basis as follow-up.  There are several unknowns as to exactly how this would play out, but our committee will monitor this and adjust according as we continue to work towards the establishment of a truancy court in the future.  Data from the Baraboo School District for the 2016-17 school year indicated that 42% of the high school students had issues with being truant.  District-wide data showed that there were 372 truancy citations issued and 19 habitual truancy referrals made.  There was also discussion about the benefits of establishing a one judge approach to handing juvenile court cases.  One of the greatest challenges rests with the uncertainty of the judicial staffing in the county in the future.

7. Discussion Regarding Juvenile Shackling -  There was significant discussion about the types of juvenile court proceeding that would lend themselves to a consideration of having the juvenile unshackled (TPC - Release and Non-secure placement).  Judge Klicko is an advocate for giving more leeway in making these determinations in consultation with these involved including court security.  She will be following up with a discussion on this with the other judges in the county.

8. Discussion about Boys & Girls Club Opening in Reedsburg - The Boys & Girls club will be opening in Reedsburg on Tuesday September 5th.  The city is excited and hopes that this will provide a positive impact on the community by providing a safe place for youth in the community to participate to fun, constructive, activities.

9. Discussion of 2018 Goals - 1) Establish a truancy court with the Baraboo School District.  The goal is to reduce the overall number of truancy citations and habitual truancy referrals.  2) Explore a juvenile shackling policy for court proceedings that provides for judicial discretion in allowing for juveniles to be unshackled.  The goal is to not treat all juveniles that same a impress upon them the notion that they are violent criminals.  3) Explore the possibility of establishing a one judge approach to handling juvenile cases.  Goal to expand the role of the judge in these proceedings and establish a relationship between the juvenile and the judge to try an prevent recidivism.

10. Next Meeting date/time - Tuesday September 26 @ 3:00pm

11.  Motion by Browning & second by Klicko to adjourn at 4:30pm.  Motion carried 6-0.

Respectfully submitted by Jeff Bindl, Chairperson, Juvenile Justice Systems Committee.