Members Present Judge William Herauf, Chair, via telephone Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, via telephone Judge Dan Narum, via telephone Judge Doug Mattson Dale Thompson, Referee Karen Kringlie, Juvenile Court Director Unit 2
Members Absent Judge David Reich
Staff Present Louie Hentzen, Asst. State Court Administrator Catie Palsgraaf, Research Analyst
Guests Deb Carlson, Juvenile Court Director Unit 1 Scott Hopwood, Juvenile Court Director Unit 4 Cory Pedersen, Juvenile Court Director Unit 3
Judge Herauf called the meeting to order at 12:58 p.m. He asked for any changes to the May 25,
2011 minutes.
A motion was made by Dale Thompson to approve the May 25, 2011 minutes as corrected.
The motion was seconded by Judge Mattson, motion carried.
Review Policies (401-409)
Policy 401 – There was discussion concerning certification of staff current procedures and
training requirements. A motion was made by Dale Thompson that Policy 401 be put on the
agenda for the next meeting to set procedure and training requirements to be in compliance
with subsection VI. The motion was seconded by Judge Mattson, motion carried.
Policy 402 – No changes.
Policy 403 – There was discussion concerning the procedure for expungement and the internal
nature of the Policy so the public, including attorneys, are unaware of the option. A motion was
made by Dale Thompson to insert “after a hearing” after “The judge may” in the third
sentence. The motion was seconded by Judge Mattson, motion carried.
Policy 404 – There was discussion concerning current policy board rules for community service
under subsection VI(A). A motion was made by Karen Kringlie to strike subsection VI(A)
and re-letter VI(B)-(E) to VI(A)-(D). The motions was seconded by Judge Mattson, motion
carried.
Policy 405 – There was discussion concerning the necessity of Policy 405 since N.D.R.Juv.P.
Rule 2(a) lays out required hearing times. A motion was made by Judge Mattson to strike all
language in Policy 405 and insert a reference to N.D.R.Juv.P Rule 2(a). The motion was
seconded by Karen Kringlie, motion carried.
Policy 406 – There was discussion of Jim Ganje’s draft update of this policy. A motion was
made by Karen Kringlie to approve Jim Ganje’s draft of Policy 406. The motion was
seconded by Dale Thompson, motion carried.
Policy 407 – There was discussion of concerns about monitoring methods that are currently used
but not included in the policy. A motion was made by Karen Kringlie to insert a period after
“Electronic monitoring provides an alternative to detention” and strike “and an
intermediate consequence as a part of informal or formal probation” of the second sentence
of the first paragraph. The motion was seconded by Judge Mattson, motion carried. Policy 408 – No changes.
Policy 409 – There was discussion concerning permanency hearing time standards, which are not
currently addressed in this policy. Louie Hentzen commented that federal law requires a
permanency hearing every 365 days, but the national standard is every 180 days. A motion was made by Judge Narum to require a permanency hearing every 180 days. The motion was seconded by Karen Kringlie.There was
discussion regarding the potential for increased workloads balanced with potentially achieving
permanency within a shorter time frame. A motion was made by Judge Mattson to table
Policy 409 until the next Juvenile Policy Board meeting to check the resources required and
the current norm for permanency hearings. The motion was seconded by Karen Kringlie,
motion carried.
Policy 501 – There was discussion concerning Supreme Court discussion of proposed policies
prior to final approval. Justice Maring will review the process with the Chief Justice.
Best Practices Manual/Operations Manual
There was discussion concerning changing the name of the Juvenile Court Best Practices Manual
to the Juvenile Court Operations Manual. The original intent of the Best Practices Manual was
to pull the offices together and provide a few years for the offices to become similar in practice.
Concerns regarding discretionary duties as opposed to mandatory requirements and potential
financial impact down the road were expressed. Other comments were made regarding the
flexibility written into the Best Practices Manual to address the differences between rural and
urban areas, inconsistency in practice between the offices, and the need to update the manual,
regardless of name change.
A motion was made by Judge Mattson to update the Juvenile Court Best Practices Manual.
The motion was seconded by Karen Kringlie, motion carried.
Judge Herauf asked that the manual get updated first, then the Juvenile Policy Board will take up
issue of making it more than a best practices manual. Judge Herauf appointed Louie Hentzen
to chair the update committee.
Juvenile Director’s Report
Karen Kringlie presented the Juvenile Director’s report. Deb Carlson, Juvenile Director of Unit
1, is retiring in October 2011. Internal notice for the Unit 1 Juvenile Director position has been
posted.
The Juvenile Directors are working on a probation survey to parents and children to comment on
services they received. Juvenile court staff statewide attended YASI training on September 8,
2011. A motion was made by Justice Maring to recognize Deb Carlson’s dedication to juveniles
and service to juveniles in the state. The motion carried.
For the Good of the Order
Judicial Interim Committee; Discussing Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction – There was
discussion about the Judicial Interim Committee’s study of extended juvenile jurisdiction (EJJ).
Louie Hentzen reported on the history of the EJJ study from the 2011 legislative session and the
suggestion that the Juvenile Policy Board have a presence at the interim committee meetings.
The juvenile directors discussed their thoughts on the EJJ study, including more court discretion
to transfer to adult court, the small number of cases to which EJJ would apply, procedural
concerns with EJJ, and authority to request EJJ residing only with states attorneys and not also
with the court.
Louie Hentzen reported it is evident to him that the interim committee will rely on the Juvenile
Policy Board to work with legislative council to draft an EJJ bill. Justice Maring discussed the
need to look at jury trials for juveniles involved in EJJ and the impact on District Court
workloads.
Judge Herauf appointed a subcommittee to work with the interim committee. The members of
the subcommittee are Judge Herauf and Cory Pedersen. The subcommittee will prepare a draft
version of the EJJ bill and review with the Juvenile Policy Board prior to the next interim
committee meeting.The next meeting of the Juvenile Policy Board is November 22, 2011 at 1pm in Bismarck, ND.