Community Courts

Red Hook hosted a delegation of 9 prosecutors, public defenders, and community organizers from Los Angeles to discuss the site’s peacemaking program.

Red Hook hosted 5 members of the South Dallas Community Court to inform about Red Hook programming. The visit consisted of a court observation, tour of the facility, and discussion of Red Hook’s programming.

LaToya Wesley-Colm is the Director of Resource Mobilization at the Resonance Network, a network of 3,000 people who are working to build a world beyond violence. Welsey-Colm visited MCJC to learn more about their work through a court observation and a discussion of their programming

Red Hook hosted 3 visitors from the court, Albany Works!, from Albany, GA to learn more about Red Hook programming. The visit consisted of a court observation, tour of the facility, and discussion of Red Hook’s programming.

Brian Scott is the executive director of Our Journey in Rocky Mount, NC. This is an organization that aims to provide reentry services to formerly incarcerated individuals. Brian Scott visited Red Hook to learn more about the work that Red Hook is doing, from its programming to its court operations.

The Center maintains a Court-Builders listserv that hosts over 600 active subscribers and shares examples of promising practices, lessons learned, and timely news among the community court field. The listserv continues to be a valuable tool for peer-to-peer communication.

The South Dallas Community Court hosted a mentor court site visit for their matched cohort of current BJA grantees. The visit welcomed delegates from Hollywood, Arlington, and Fort Bend County. The site visit included an introduction to the court and a site tour, a court observation, as well as a working lunch to hear inspiring success stories and gain insight into the South Dallas team’s current programming. The site visit concluded with a brief strategic planning session.

The Spokane Community Court hosted a mentor court site visit for their matched cohort of current BJA grantees. The visit welcomed delegates from Skagit County, Upper Sioux, and Kalispel. The site visit included a welcome, an introduction to the court staff as well as a court staffing meeting observation, an obserbation of the court and the service provider rooms, a discussion around building sustainable programs, and a roundtable debrief discussion. No federal funds were used for any of the food purchased for this event.

The Downtown Austin Community Court hosted a mentor court site visit for their matched cohort of current BJA grantees. The visit welcomed delegates from Dane County, Las Vegas, and Paterson. The site visit included a discussion of court services and clinical diversion program; a court observation; a discussion of their mobile court and community services; a facility tour; discussions of homeless services and treatment planning, facility security practices and client behavior planning processes; and an open Q&A/discussion session.

The Boulder Community Court hosted a mentor court site visit for their matched cohort of current BJA grantees. The visit welcomed delegates from Albany County, Reno, and South Salt Lake. The visit consisted of a welcome and walk through Boulder Municipal Court, an observation of community court, a debrief and Q&A, as well as a lunch with no federal funds used.