State of the Court: Summary
The November 7th City council meeting included a presentation on the 2022 State of the Municipal Court. Presiding Judge Nicole Bozarth presented statistics on cases, hearings and more. She also updated the council on the progress of treatment and outreach programs.
Presiding Judge Bozarth reported that Lakewood is a leader in court innovation.
Regarding case trends, Judge Bozarth reports that penal cases are on the rise, especially juvenile cases. The number of penal cases that are high risk are increasing. High-risk or high-need cases include domestic disturbance cases. 90% of juvenile offenders are in the high-risk category.
The number of calls to police for service is up over last year. Judge Bozarth believes police are following up on more calls of increasing complexity. Traffic cops are being pulled in to cover these other cases, resulting in less traffic offenses such as parking.
The number of hearings held is still not back to pre-covid levels, being only 60% of the number compared to 2018.
Jails are opening up and are taking more prisoners when a warrant has been issued. However, Judge Bozarth explains that court policy is to vacate almost all warrants. (If there are different types of warrants, it was not explained.)
Failures to appear, citations and warrants are all down from 2021 to 2022. Data before 2021 is not presented.
Judge Bozarth thanks the city for funding the Municipal Opportunity to Secure and Sustain Treatment (MOSST) Program. This program was intended to reduce the cost for “probation clients court ordered to participate in therapeutic interventions.” This program was passed by unanimous vote in March, 2022 at the cost of $199,992.
Lakewood Municipal Community Outreach Court will start December 1, 2022. Judge Bozarth will be handling cases directly from Mountair Church. The goal is to “provide those in need with immediate access to community resources and providers.” For example, someone with a high “Failure to Appear” rate may have an easier time if the court moves to them.
Discussions after the presentation focused on mental health solutions. Several Council Members thanked Judge Bozarth for her compassion and said that was the reason City Council appointed her.
Public comment after the presentation included an account from one resident who was harmed by an offender with several Failures to Appear, for which the Court vacates all warrants. This resident has suffered loss of time, money and personal health.