Members present: Judge Janis Whitener-Moberg; Mr. Craig Daly; Judge Steve González; Ms. Susanne Elsner; Judge Elizabeth Cordi-Bejarano; Justice Mary Fairhurst;

 

Members not present:  Judge John Lohrmann; Chief Robert Spinks; Mr. Jeffrey Beaver; Ms. Fona Sugg

 

Staff present: Mr. Rick Coplen; Ms. Karen Castillo

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Judge Whitener-Moberg called the meeting to order.

 

Members present identified themselves. 

 

Judge Whitener-Moberg asked if anyone wanted changes made to the draft of the March 12, 2010 Meeting Minutes. There being none, Judge Bejarano made a motion to approve the minutes. Justice Fairhurst seconded the motion. The March 12, 2010 Meeting Minutes were adopted unanimously.

 

Judge Bejarano was complimented by all on her second newsletter.  She asked if there were any additional items to be added in this edition; there were none. Judge Whitener-Moberg asked if this will be distributed to the various judges, clerks, and court administrators across the state. Ms. Castillo replied that, upon approval by the Court Security Committee, she will distribute it electronically via the listservs.

 

Mr. Coplen began the discussion, saying that, with 134 responses, this survey had the best response of all surveys he’s conducted using SurveyMonkey. He noted that additional questions have been generated (i.e. jury instruction pertaining to the new media, such as Twitter).  He also noted that the majority of responders said that a formal one-fits-all policy was not needed, but that guidelines would be helpful. He also noted that the additional comments made by those responding did not suggest the need for a firm policy to be established.

 

Ms. Kraski commented about an incident that happened last fall when a murder trial was going on and the sheriff’s office observed people in the courtroom taking pictures of witnesses. Mr. Coplen said that California had the same problem, which is why they’ve banned cell phones in the courtroom. Justice Fairhurst recalled a recent newspaper article about someone being beat up in the parking lot outside a local courthouse.

 

Judge Gonzalez commented that the Cell Phone Model Policy work group did some work on the best practices that could be added to the safety guidelines. He noted that he will not be on the Committee after this month, but he hopes that there will be others on the Committee who will take up this task. Justice Fairhurst echoed Judge González’s comments, saying that she, too, will be leaving the Committee but hopes this work will continue.  

 

Mr. Daly spoke briefly about the Juvenile Court Facility Survey, saying that his purpose in conducting this survey was to find out where the state’s juvenile courts/facilities are located with respect to adult courts/facilities. For discussion, he referred to the email he sent to the Committee that summarized the responses he received.   That information follows.

 

Some counties have a separate site location for their juvenile detention center/ juvenile courtroom complex, others have all adult and juvenile facilities (jail/detention center and adult/juvenile courtrooms) on a single location, and still others have all court activity on one site and the juvenile detention center at a separate location or contracted out. The summary follows.

 

·       Co-located adult/ juvenile court and jail/detention on one site: (6  counties)

Chelan, Island, Okanogan, Spokane, Whatcom, Whitman

 

·       Co-located adult & juvenile courts only (Juvenile Detention at separate location): (10 counties)

Adams, Asotin/Garfield, Columbia/Walla Walla, Douglas, Jefferson, Lincoln, San Juan, Skagit, Stevens/Pend Oreille/Ferry

 

·       Juvenile Court / Detention Center complex located on its own separate site: (13 counties)

Benton/Franklin, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Piece, Snohomish, Thurston, Yakima  

 

Judge Whitener-Moberg said she has spoken with her replacement, Judge Debra Hayes, and reported that Judge Hayes has been involved with court security at the local level. Justice Fairhurst said that she hasn’t spoken with Justice Johnson, but he had specifically expressed a desire to be on the committee. 

 

Mr. Coplen mentioned that there is some question about whether or not we will be able to hold an in-person meeting in September as hoped. New budget restrictions imposed by the legislature significantly limit travel reimbursements. He said he is waiting for guidelines from AOC about those restrictions, which should be available by mid July.   He added that, whether in person or by phone, it would be nice to have a hand-off to the new members by those members who are leaving. He asked that members send him information or suggestions on how to ease the transition. Judge Bejarano asked what information should be covered. Mr. Coplen suggested that information on the background of the committee might be helpful.   Also, new members should be provided with information about any current concerns being covered by the committee. The committee membership contact sheet will be emailed to them, along with the Security Guidelines and the Crisis Communications Plan, along with the date and location of the next scheduled meeting.

 

Judge González said he was impressed with the number of incidents being reported; he wondered if it was the result of better reporting or if it was an increase in incidents. Mr. Coplen credited the Court Security Newsletter sent out in March with the increase in reporting, saying that the Court Security Incident Response article raised awareness of the importance of reporting incidents.

The next meeting of the Court Security Committee will be on Friday, September 24, 2010.  

 

Additional details will be forwarded at a later date.

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.