Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County Fall 2001 Edition

FOCUSA Look at the

Maricopa CountyJuvenile Court

FOCUS is online at:www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov

Kids, families forever united

New Juvenile Court facilities on the rise

The new Juvenile Court Center Courthouse at Durango

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It wasn’t easy to noticewith so many worldwideevents taking center stage.

However, while theUnited States Armed Forcesfought for justice thousandsof miles away and while theworld champion Diamond-backs charged to victory, 49children were assimilated into38 families at the SecondAnnual Celebrate Adoption.

“The smiles on thefaces of the children withtheir new families are a won-derful reminder of why it isimportant to help themachieve permanency,”saidPresiding Juvenile Court

Judge LindaScott. “The co-operation andcollaboration be-tween attorneys, adoptionagencies, Department of Eco-nomic Security and the Juve-nile Court to bring life to

Celebrate Adoption 2001was remarkable.”

Information tables,education sessions, entertain-

ment for children, and openadoption hearings were allpart of the event to celebrateand promote adoptions dur-ing national adoption monthin November.

Children who visitedSuperior Court enjoyed facepainting, arts and crafts, sci-ence demonstrations and vis-its from Santa, Scooby Doo,Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

While the general pub-lic was fixated on the finalgames of the World Series, theday couldn’t have been bet-ter for the new families.

Outfitted with hats andshovels, court and county of-ficials recently took the voter-approved expansion of Juve-nile Court Facilities out of thedesign phase into the con-struction phase.

A new courthouse, ex-panded detention facilities, a

residential treatment facilityand a parking garage at theJuvenile Court CenterDurango facility, 3125 W.Durango is underway.

Similarly, detention ex-pansion and court renovationprojects recently brokeground as well at the Juvenile

Court Center Southeast Fa-

cility in Mesa.“We generally run at or

over capacity in our deten-tion centers,” Presising Juve-nile Court Judge Linda Scottsaid. “This facility will pro-vide safe, secure places forjuveniles who have violatedthe laws of this community.”

The two-story, 12-courtroom facility at

Durango is being built

west of the current “round”courthouse and will encom-pass office space for court ad-ministration, clerk of thecourt, county attorney, pub-lic defender, and juvenile pro-bation. The building will alsoinclude a conference center.

A 1000-space parkinggarage, scheduled for

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New Judges take the Juvenile Court bench

Judge Rotates to CivilHon. Rebecca Albrecht

Hon. Teresa Sanders Hon. Andrew Klein Hon. Sherry Stephens

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After months of change,the Juvenile Court benchis setttling in.

With longtime JuvenileCourt Judge RebeccaAlbrecht’s departure to theSuperior Court Civil Divisionin downtown Phoenix, andthe appointment of three newjudges, The changes are com-plete.

Since March, the benchhas introduced a new presid-ing judge and changed judgesin three Juvenile Court court-rooms.

One of the newest ad-ditions, Judge Theresa Sand-ers, is a fa-miliar face toJ u v e n i l eCourt, hav-ing spents e v e nmonths as aJ u v e n i l eCourt Com-missioner atthe Mesa fa-cility in1999. It was her first assign-ment as a commissioner. Af-ter serving assignments in theCriminal and Family CourtDepartments, she returned tothe Juvenile Court Durangofacility two months prior toher appointment in Septem-ber.

“I am very pleased tohave Judge Sanders returningto Juvenile Court because ofher prior outstanding servicewith us as a commissioner,”said Presiding Juvenile CourtJudge Linda Scott.

Judge Sanders said thatof all her assignments as acommissioner, she enjoyedthe Juvenile division the best.

“I wish I had been as-

signed to Juvenile Courtlonger as a commissioner,”she said. “ I think the workwe do here is very worth-while.”

Judge Sanders is con-tinuing her assignment atDurango.

Prior to her career as aSuperior Court Judicial Of-ficer, Judge Sanders spent 13years in the criminal trial di-vision of the MaricopaCounty Attorney’s Office,including the gang and repeatoffender and major felonybureaus.

After three years as the

bureau chief of the criminaltrial division, she was ap-pointed a commissioner as-signed to Juvenile Court.Judge Sanders began her le-gal career in Grand JunctionColorado, where she was inprivate practice handling avariety of matters, includingcases in juvenile law matters.She received a bachelor’s de-gree in marketing from Ari-zona State University, whereshe also received her law de-gree in 1983.

Two additional new ju-rists, Judges Andrew Kleinand Sherry Stephens, bothappointed to the bench inJuly 2001, have been as-signed to the Southeast facil-

ity.During his investiture

ceremony, Judge Klein said ofhis appointment:

“ I have long felt thatthe judiciary is the noblestway an attorney can serve thepublic. I will work day andnight to be the best judge Ican be.”

Judge Klein also ex-pressed his gratitude for thepatience and graciousness ofhis new Juvenile Court col-leagues for helping him to ad-just to a Juvenile Court cal-endar. He received his under-graduate degree in journalism

from theUniversity ofCalifornia atBerkeley andhis lawdegree in1977 fromIndiana Uni-versity inBloomington.After laws c h o o l ,

Judge Klein’s career began atthe law firm of Levy, Mason,Spector & Sherwood in Ari-zona. Four years later, JudgeKlein was a partner in thefirm.

Prior to his appoint-ment to the bench, JudgeKlein was a managing part-ner, a position he held since1993.

Before her appoint-ment, Judge Stephens super-vised the Criminal Fraud Sec-tion of the Arizona AttorneyGeneral’s Office. She initiallyjoined the AG’s Office in1980, immediately followingher admittance to the ArizonaState Bar.

After three yearson the Juvenile CourtBench, Judge RebeccaAlbrecht recently va-cated her chambers atthe Southeast Mesa Fa-cility for new digs in theSuperior Court CivilDivision in downtownPhoenix.

Judge Albrecht,who served three years asa Juvenile Court com-missioner prior to beingappointed a judge in1985, admitted she willmiss Juvenile Court andpraised court staff fortheir efforts in workingwith Maricopa Countyjuveniles in need.

“We have beenprivileged to serve withmany dedicated and car-ing people,” JudgeAlbrecht said. “ I willmiss that caring atti-tude.”

She added that thecommitment of JuvenileCourt staff members tochildren and their pro-fession is “unmatched inany area of the law orcourts.

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New Facilities From Page 1

Construction at Durango Facility brings parking woes

Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Linda Scott (top left) has been busy with theshovel at different groundbreaking ceremonies for new facilities at Durangoand Southeast.. (Clockwise from top) Judge Scott shows a picture of her andseveral others at the grounndbreaking of the Southeast Juvenile Court facilityin 1989; Superior Court Presiding Judge Colin F. Campbell expressed hisdelight at the start of the new facilities. County and Court officials breakground at the detention expansion project at the Southeast Facility in Mesa;A 48-bed residential treatment facility is part of the new construction at theDurango facility.

With the constructionof more comfortable facilitiesat the Durango JuvenileCourt Facility come sometemporary inconveniences.

Parking is high on thelist.

Due to the constructionof the new courthouse andparking structure at theDurango facility, a large por-tion of the west parking lot isfenced off, leaving few park-ing spots for Court Centerstaff, customers and visitors.

To alleviate the parkingshortfall, a parking lot east of

the Maricopa County Tow-ers Jail has been cleared forJuvenile Court use, and a

shuttle bus service is now inplace to assist customers andstaff in getting to the court

center. The shuttle is handi-cap-accessible and has a ca-pacity for 25 people. It runsevery 15 minutes to and fromthe courthouse between 5:30a.m. and midnight.

For enhanced security,security staff patrols the park-ing lot. Lighting was alsoadded for increased security.

The shuttle system is inplace until the new parkingstructure, adjacent to the newcourt facility, is completed inMarch, 2002. The court-house will be completed in2003.

completion in May 2002,will be available to JuvenileCourt as well as nearbyMaricopa County Jail facili-ties. The remainder of theconstruction is scheduled tobe completed in the fall,2003.

Expansion at theSoutheast Juvenile Facilitywill include 120 beds, aswell as support facilities suchas classrooms, visitor areasand a dining room. A newSoutheast parking garage, al-ready completed, was thefirst of the jail tax projects tobe constructed.

The projects are fundedwith about $64 million of a$900-million jail tax. Theprojects will reduce chronicovercrowding in both theDurango and Southeast ju-venile detention centers,which are consistently overcapacity.

“This is a wonderfulopportunity and a wonder-ful physical structure for usto continue working withchildren and families,” Judge

Scott said of the Durangoproject. “We need a largerbuilding, and a different de-sign.”

The constructionprojects are creating somechallenges for court staff andcustomers. Parking, deten-tion visitation and transfer ofjuveniles between the court-house and detention are ex-pected be the most problem-atic at the Durango complex.

“It’s going to be a realchallenge to keep things go-ing operationally,” said KenBond, assistant director ofJuvenile Probation Services.“We’ll have to get creative.We’ll have to be flexiblealong the way.”

To address the parkingissue, a parking area wascleared east of the MaricopaCounty Towers Jail, and ashuttle bus service is trans-porting court staff and cus-tomers to and from the Ju-venile Court Center.

See Related storyon this page

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New, From Page 2Leaving, From Page 1

School violence program wide in scope$500,000 federal grant funds SAFETY in schools for 2 years

“This State and Countyare truly fortunate to haveeach (staff member) work-ing with and for children,”she said.

Judge Albrecht hasserved as the Superior CourtAssociate Presiding Judge,the first woman to do so, andas a judge in the special as-signment, civil , domestic re-lations and criminal depart-ments.

Several years ago, shewas also the first woman tobe named the MaricopaCounty Bar president.

Armed with a$500,000 federal grant toprevent school violence, theJuvenile Probation Depart-ment will spend the nexttwo years helping MaricopaCounty find SAFETY onschool campuses.

Juveni le ProbationProject Manager MargaretDaggett said the ultimatepurpose of the violence pre-vention and outreach pro-gram named SAFETY –Schools Are For EducationnoT worrY – is to have awide range of experts agreeon a solution to school vio-lence and show how schoolviolence spreads into thecommunity.

“One goal is develop-ing more community re-sponse to issues so we arenot simply relying on pro-fessionals to solve the prob-lems,” Daggett said. “It’sgot to be dealt with athome, in the neighbor-hood, at the Jack-in-the-

Box. We all have a stake indealing with the issues be-fore they result in vio-lence.”

Already underway,Daggett said the programhas two approaches. Oneapproach features eventssuch as a recent two-daysymposium aimed at expos-ing schools to a variety ofprevention philosophies, aswell as workshops gearedtoward helping schoolsidentify their needs and so-lutions. The grant coversthree workshops and onesymposium a year, over thetwo-year grant period.

A recent symposiumfeatured local, state and na-t ional experts who metwith school professionals,law enforcement officials,mental health practitionersand concerned citizens toexchange information onviolence prevention and in-tervention.

The second approach

of the grant is to includethe community in findingsolutions to prevent schoolviolence. Public Service An-nouncements in print, TVand radio media will be themain focus of this approach.

Daggett sa id shehopes to expose variousstakeholders in the com-munity to a wide range ofapproaches and disciplinesto school violence.

“For law enforcement,the question is ‘is the be-havior a crime? For mentalhealth, ‘does the behaviorsignify mental health prob-lems.’ For teachers, ‘doesthe behavior interruptteaching and learning,’”Daggett said. “Our ques-tion is how do we get ev-erybody to see the wholecontinuum of disciplinesand leave behind the limi-tations of their own disci-plines and get on board asa community members tohelp out?”

In January, a work-shop will help schools iden-tify their vulnerabil i t iesand what programs are inplace to solve the problems.Daggett says later work-shops may include crisis re-sponse, the difference be-tween normal and abnor-mal adolescent develop-ment and improvingschool-parent relations.

The community out-reach portion of the grant,consisting mainly of videosand Public Service An-nouncements on radio andtelevision, wil l focus onheightening awareness ofschool violence issues, andhow they affect the commu-nity, Daggett said, addingher ultimate goal is gettingthe community involved infinding solutions.

”We want to spreadawareness of ownership forthis as a problem,” Shesaid. “Violence on campusis an issue because it sig-nals violence in thecommunity.”

Judge Stephens fo-cused primarily on white-collar crimes during hercareer with the A.G.

She received her un-dergraduate degree incriminal justice in 1977and her law degree in1980. She earned bothdegrees from ArizonaState University.

“Both judges SherryStephens and AndrewKlein bring diverse legal

backgrounds to ourcourt,” Judge Scott said.“Both have demonstratedin their short time with usa keen interest in juvenileissues and a firm commit-ment to helping the chil-dren and families who ap-pear in their courts.”

The three newjudges join Judges AlanKamin and David R. Coleon the list of judges re-cently assigned to Juvenile

Court since March.Superior Court Pre-

siding Judge ColinCampbell calls JuvenileCourt a key element ofthe judicial system inMaricopa County.

“Many years ago thebench prioritized thework we do here. Thebench voted the most im-portant thing we do, iswhat we do in JuvenileCourt,” he said.

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Adoption, From Page 1

Clockwise from the top:Families awaiting adoptioncrowded the fourth floor of theCentral Court Building; Tiggerwas a popular side show forchildren in attendance;Therewas plenty to do for kids in theplaza, including face paintingand crafts; A TV stationinterviews an adoptive family;Science experiments were partof the agenda; CommissionerRobert Colosi joins in the fun;Cake was a popluar attraction;Patriotism and unity mingled atCelebrate Adoption 2001; Oneof many young and bright facesat this year’s event.

“I am just glad to havemy daughter,” said JulieDecker shortly after 3-year-old Brianna became theeighth Decker child, and

third special needs adoptionfor the Decker family.

As with the first cel-ebration, the event was a col-laboration with Juvenile

Court, and others. New tothis year’s effort wereMaricopa County and Boardof Supervisors Chairman JanBrewer, providing assistancein planning and sponsoringCelebrate Adoption 2001.

In just two years, theevent has accounted for 108children being adopted into80 families on single days. Itis anticipated that JuvenileCourt will continue to cel-ebrate adoption annually.

Superior Court of ArizonaJuvenile Court1810 S. LewisMesa, Arizona85210-6234

Presiding Judge Linda K. Scott

Judge Silvia R. Arellano

Judge Dennis W. Dairman

Judge Andrew Klein

Judge Emmet J. Ronan

Judge Sherry K. Stephens

Commissioner Thomas Jacobs

Hearing Officer David Arrow

JUVENILE COURT JUDICIAL OFFICERS

602.506.2610

602.506.3649

602.506.1855

602.506.4645

602.506.0438

602.506.4818

602.506.4203

602.506.2040

602.506.5340

602.506.2050

602.506.5808

602.506.6086

602.506.3157

602.506.4791

602.506.3663

602.506.3366

602.506.3892

Southeast Court Center

1810 South Lewis St.

Mesa, AZ 85210

Durango Court Center

3125 West Durango

Phoenix, AZ 85009

Associate Presiding Judge Janet Barton

Judge Thomas Dunevant III

Judge David R. Cole

Judge Brian R. Hauser

Judge Alan S. Kamin

Judge Teresa A. Sanders

Judge William P. Sargeant III

Commissioner Robert Colosi

Commissioner George H. Foster Jr.