MINUTES
Doublewood Inn, Bismarck, ND
March 6, 2008
Members Present:
Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, Chair
Dale Rivard
Jennifer Liddle
Dr. Kevin Thompson
Kim Hegvik
Jackie Presley
Christine Montgomery
Deb Davis
Les Malnaa
Sherrice Roness
Shawn Mattingley
Nicole Leitner
Dave McGeary
Holly Webster
Jack Colby
Brad Peterson
Valerie Potter
Jason Anderson
Melissa Waind
Jeff Ubben
Staff:
Marilyn Moe
The Juvenile Drug Court Advisory Committee met at the Doublewood Inn, Bismarck, on
March 6, 2008. Deb Davis moved to approve the minutes of September 18, 2007 and Dale Rivard seconded. Motion carried.
New Business:
A. Team Reports
Kim Hegvik reported for the Fargo team. Fargo currently has nine participants in its
program. During this reporting period Fargo has had three graduations and five terminations.
Qualified juvenile drug court participants will be involved with the Fargo Forestry project for the
summer. The mentor program with the Fargo Police Department has continued, and the
participants and law enforcement have attended area sporting events and also participated in
community service projects.
The team is working on ways to improve the mentoring project with law enforcement and
possible training for the mentors. Dr. Thompson suggested that there be more one-on-one
mentoring. Marilyn Moe will check into training for the mentors.
Nicole Leitner asked if there would be a possibility of getting a part-time court
officer/drug court coordinator position. Jackie Presley, court officer from Bismarck, spoke in
regards to that position. Jackie served in that capacity until she was hired as a full-time court
officer. There was discussion on the weighted caseload of the court officers involved with drug
court.
Sherrice Roness reported for the Bismarck team. Sherrice has been hired as the
coordinator for the Bismarck court. Bismarck currently has seven participants in its program.
Shannon Huber will coordinate the Life Skills Program and the University of Mary students will
be involved with tutoring. The Fostering Grandparents Program has partnered with the Bismarck
court. They have assigned a grandparent at Wachter Middle School who will provide tutoring for
any participants attending that school. Marilyn Moe commented that if this pilot project proves
to be successful, it could be incorporated into the other drug courts.
Brad Peterson coordinated a funding project with the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in
Bismarck. The church raised $2,300, which will be deposited in the North Dakota Drug Court
Association to be used for incentives for the Bismarck Drug Court.
The drug court was approached by the Bismarck Downtowner Association to work on
community projects such as the Christmas displays and spring displays.
Justice Maring talked about scholarships for our drug court participants. She asked that
the teams check Dollars for Scholars for information on their program.
Shawn Mattingley reported for the Grand Forks team. Grnad Forks currently has
seven participants in the program. Jennifer Liddle will replace Mike Pesch as court officer on the
drug court team. The participants have been involved with the Optimist Club, providing gift
wrapping at Christmas time. They will be involved in the Art Festival at the Alerus Center.
The team and participants will hold their annual bowling tournament on May 3, 2008.
Bowling and food have been donated for the tournament. Shawn is working on a summer skills
program which will include completing job applications and working with Career Services
through the North Dakota State University.
Deb Davis stated that Drake Counseling has hired a licensed addiction counselor in
Grand Forks.
Nicole Leitner, Fargo, asked the team members about having participants complete their
GED. She explained to the group that if a participant has completed GED and ends up not
successfully completing the drug court program, the participant is not eligible for out-of-home
placement, other than, the Youth Correctional Center.
They celebrated their 1st anniversary with a bowling pizza party with team members and
participants.
They have received many incentives from their community for their new incentive
program. Les Malnaa and Valerie Potter developed an incentive program that allows the
participants to bank their hours for larger incentives. They are also awarded immediate
incentives. Minot State University has agreed to evaluate the incentive program over a five-year
period.
Valerie is working on summer community service projects.
Jack Colby reported for the Williston team. Williston started operation on January 9,
2008. The team consists of: Judge David Nelson, Pete Furuseth, Marlyce Wilder, Holly Webster,
Jerry Chapman, Jack Colby, Jason Germundson, and Cory Collins. They currently have one
female participant and are staffing two more juveniles. Jack has approached the community for
incentives and he has been well received. They have collected car washes, gas cards, meals, and
pedicures. The Rec Center has donated free passes for a year.
AA/NA Discussion -The team held discussion on the problems with ordering the
participants to attend AA/NA. The juvenile drug court programs in North Dakota will not order
their participants to attend AA/NA. Marilyn Moe will check the Juvenile Drug Court Policy
Manual for any reference to AA/NA and change the language to support groups.
Devils Lake Juvenile Drug Court - Drug court team members from Bismarck and
Grand Forks attended a meeting with members from the Devils Lake Community. The program
was explained along with the different roles of the team members. The Devils Lake team will
begin training in April. If funds are available, the court plans to begin operation in January of
2009. Judge Donovan Foughty will be the primary judge.
Justice Maring talked about the possibility of this court eventually becoming a joint
tribal/state juvenile drug court.
National Drug Court Association Congress - John Grinsteiner just returned from
attending Congress for the National Drug Court Association in Washington, D.C. John was not
able to attend the advisory meeting, but gave the group a written report. He was able to visit with
Senator Dorgan and Senator Conrad's office while in D.C. The 2009 federal budget has zeroed
out the funds for the drug court program.
Future Training - Justice Maring suggested that if any team members have requests for
instate training, they should contact Marilyn Moe. New team members will be sent to the
National Drug Institute for Comprehensive Training.
Old Business:
Juvenile Court Best Practices - Karen Kringlie, Unit 2 Juvenile Court Director, is
drafting best practices for assessing juveniles coming into juvenile court. Justice Maring and
Karen Kringlie attended the last Juvenile Policy Board meeting and the committee has agreed to
draft the best practices in this area.
Next meeting date: September 24, 2008, Minot, ND.
There being no further business meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Moe