TJCTC's Blog
Did you know you can get updates specifically for courts from the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health (JCMH) delivered directly to your inbox?
The team at JCMH focuses on all things mental health and the court system. They provide lots of free resources and training for judges, including coming out to your county to provide technical assistance on issues like Emergency Detention Orders.
Sign up for their announcements and updates on their website.
We have training opportunities and resources to share with you in this last eblast this month. We hope you are enjoying your summer so far!
The spring edition of the court personnel exams are now open! Take your open book exam online with TJCTC’s virtual proctoring program. The exams will be open until June 19th. Register by June 14th to take exams during this timeframe. To learn about the exam and register now, visit our court personnel certification page: https://www.tjctc.org/court-personnel/clerk-certification-program.html For questions, email Jessica at jessforeman@txstate.edu.
What is the clerk certification program?
The Justice Court Clerk Certification Program allows experienced justice court clerks to demonstrate their knowledge of statutes, procedures, and ethical guidelines applicable to Texas justice courts. Justice court clerks who pass an examination receive certification as a Certified Clerk or a Master Certified Clerk. The Texas Justice Court Training Center creates and administers all exams.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Location: Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council (STRAC), 7500 W US Highway 90 1-200, San Antonio, Texas 78227
This in-person seminar will cover the topic of Mass Fatality Management in Public Health Region 8. Presentations will be given by the following agencies: American Red Cross, Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office, Medicolegal Authority/Justice of the Peace, Texas Department of State Health Services Region 8, Texas Funeral Directors Association and Texas Mass Fatality Operations Response Team (TMORT). When the presentations are completed, the speakers will form a panel and a question-and-answer session will occur to provide attendees the opportunity to ask questions or seek clarification for issues not addressed during the lectures.
For more information and to register, visit the DSHS website.
The DWI Summits bring judicial education to smaller communities around the state. Come learn about:
The program is open to County Judges, County Court at Law Judges, District Judges and Justices of the Peace. Programs begin at 10 a.m. and conclude by 3 p.m. Lunch is provided. Please check with your judicial education organization regarding reimbursement. |
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Email hollyd@yourhonor.com if you would like to attend or need more information.
Every Day Is a Training Day: The Value of Daily Training on Policy
Thursday, May 30 | 1 pm Eastern
Presented by: Chief (Ret.) Mike Ranalli and Battalion Chief (Ret.) Bruce Bjorge
When first responders are operating in the field, they are often required to make quick decisions. As a public safety leader, you hope your personnel have been trained on both policy and practice and you trust they are making sound decisions. However, there are times when your personnel encounter unfamiliar scenarios — situations that are low frequency but high risk.
Join Chief (Ret.) Mike Ranalli and Battalion Chief (Ret.) Bruce Bjorge, as they discuss how using Daily Training Bulletins (DTBs) can help ensure your personnel are not only reviewing agency policy but also receiving regular training on your agency policy.
You’ll learn:
Registration is free. Can’t make it? Register anyway and Lexipol will send you a link to the recording after the event.
Wednesday, June 12
Courageous conversations are fundamental to effective leadership. As a leader, conversations with your team, colleagues, and even supervisor can, at times, be challenging to navigate. It is through the careful navigation of these conversations that one can foster positive relationships and ensure effective communication.
In this episode of Navigating Leadership, Sara Grondahl, Human Resources Director for the Alaska Court System, will discuss familiar challenges and barriers to effective communication and leave you feeling empowered with a toolbox of skills and strategies that will allow you to confidently put courageous conversations into practice.
Future sessions of this series include:
Visit ncsc.org/leadershipseries for more information and to access sessions on demand.
To round out Mental Health Awareness Month, the JCMH Collaborative Council recently shared the following resources for county officials involved in Mental Health Committees/Councils/Workgroups. Several may be helpful in rural areas, especially to get grant funding or loan forgiveness programs started for mental healthcare workers.
This is a great resource for rural judges to share with their local partners who work in the mental healthcare. SORH works to support rural health providers by providing technical assistance with finance, operations, and quality through a variety of grant programs, workshops, and one-on-one assistance. Additional resources include educational awards that are available to individual clinicians and health care institutions, information and referral, funding resources, and assistance with medical license applications.
Visit their website.
Mental Health Professionals Loan Repayment Program
Mental health professionals practicing in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (MHPSA) and providing services to recipients under a medical assistance program, may be eligible for a loan repayment award between $10,000 and $160,000, depending on your practice specialty.
If this sounds like it applies to professionals in your county, check out their website.
This is another grant opportunity for mental health and substance abuse professionals who work in underserved areas.
If this sounds like it applies to professionals in your county, check out their website.
Please join the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health (JCMH) for the 2024 Judicial Summit on Mental Health taking place November 21 – 22, 2024, at the Marriott Dallas Allen Hotel & Convention Center in Allen, Texas.
JCMH is also accepting session proposals if your court or another county program is doing something that you would like to share with stakeholders around the state.
Visit the JCMH website for details and more information.
We hope you found something helpful in this update. See you at a program soon!
– Thea & the TJCTC Team
How is it already May?! As you gear up for summer, we wanted to share upcoming training opportunities, grants, a new “Legal Question of the Month” feature, and of course more resources for your courts and offices.
Do I have to appoint a receiver?
No. You don’t have to appoint a receiver or issue a turnover order under Civil Practice and Remedies Code 31.002. However, you must consider applications for this relief and make your decision based on the application and case at hand. You should not have a blanket policy that you never issue receivers. Here is a snippet from some caselaw on the topic:
“Although subsection (a) of the statute uses the word ‘entitled,’ the use of ‘may’ in subsection (b) makes the remedy discretionary.” See Barlow v. Lane, 745 S.W.2d 451 (Tex. App. 1988), Beaumont Bank N.A. v. Buller, 806 S.W.2d 223 (Tex. 1991).
“We review the trial court’s decision for an abuse of discretion…whether there is evidence to support the decision is a relevant consideration. The ultimate question, however, is whether the court acted in an unreasonable or arbitrary manner or without reference to any guiding rules.” See Beeler v. Fuqua, 351 S.W.3d 428 (Tex. App. —El Paso 2011).
What this means is that if you just have a general rule that you don’t like receiverships and you don’t want to do them, you are probably abusing your discretion. However, if you review the applications closely or have some other reason not to grant the application and are not denying the judgment debtor other ways to collect their judgment (writ of execution, turnover order, etc.), then you can deny an application for a receiver. It would also make sense that if a particular receiver has acted improperly before, that you might have reason not to appoint them (just like if you no longer trust a process server, because they provided false information in a return).
The Ft. Worth Court of Appeals just ruled about a court using their discretion to deny the appointment of a receiver using the following logic:
“Employer’s attorney’s affidavit, in which she conveyed her ‘understanding’ that former employee owned nonexempt assets, ‘including bank accounts, income, personal property, and interest in real property,’ was not competent evidence of employee’s ownership of nonexempt property as would support issuance of turnover order to satisfy employer’s judgment against employee, because the affidavit showed no personal knowledge, and attorney’s recitation of her ‘understanding’ was conclusory.” Vaccaro v. Raymond James & Associates, Inc., 655 S.W.3d 485 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 2022).
The Houston Court of Appeals ruled similarly:
Presenting some evidence of right to turnover relief and showing nonexempt status of judgment debtor’s remaining funds does not automatically mandate trial court to order turnover of funds to judgment creditor; rather, trial court has discretion to consider other relevant factors such as ability of judgment debtor to meet living expenses if turnover relief is granted. Brink v. Ayre, 855 S.W.2d 44 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1993)
We know that coming up with the necessary funding isn’t always easy. The Texas Association of Counties (TAC) shared a few grant opportunities for courts and rural county officials last month that we wanted to pass along.
Ask about Suicide to Save a Life (AS+K) Virtual Training
The Health and Human Services Commission is hosting a training on May 15 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CDT on warning signs, clues and suicidal communications of people in psychological distress, and the actions to take to prevent a possible tragedy. Capacity is limited and pre-registration is required. RSVP at suicide.prevention@hhs.texas.gov.
Justice Court Section Webinar – Civil Trial and Pretrial Rules and Practice in Justice Courts
Presenter, Rebecca Glisan, TJCTC Director of Curriculum & Staff Attorney
This course will cover some of the specific rules and common issues that arise in justice courts related to jury and bench trials as well as pre-trial motions and hearings. Topics will include continuances, mediation and agreed orders, summary disposition, discovery, evidence, development of the facts of the case, preparing the jury, and more.
Friday, May 17, 2024 from noon – 1:00 pm
Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0uf-qprTwiEt0SfYLrJi12yZMulvcVHzA9%20#/registration
Free Lexipol Training for Law Enforcement
One of the top-national law enforcement training organizations, Lexipol, has partnered with Dak Prescott’s Faith, Fight, Finish Foundation to offer some free training for law enforcement. This could be helpful to constables and deputies looking for additional training to complete all of their TCOLE requirements.
Mental Health Resources for Judges
TLAP helps judges with issues related to substance use or mental health disorders and maintains a list of volunteer judges who are interested in providing support to peers in crisis. This class will feature a discussion with TLAP and the resources available for judges dealing with issues such as vicarious trauma. The handouts for the course are also attached to his email.
Click here to view the recording
Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) has published the Fall 2024 Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) mapping workshop application for communities interested in working with the HHSC Office of Forensic Coordination to map local behavioral health, criminal justice, or juvenile justice systems and develop action plans. The application deadline is May 17, and the application and more information about the SIM process is available at on the HHSC website.
This month is Mental Health Awareness Month, so we compiled the resources in the following newsletter for you to use throughout the month to bring awareness to the topic that so-often comes up in your courts.
You can also find additional news about the intersection of mental health and courts at JCMH News.
We hope that you find these resources helpful and enjoy the warmer weather!
– Thea and the TJCTC Team
Good Afternoon Judges, Constables, & Court Staff,
With February coming to a close, we wanted to share some more resources, updates, and especially some legal updates with you.
Updates from Legal
Warrant Teletypes
Can a judge magistrate on the teletype of a warrant, or do they need an actual copy of the warrant?
You are not legally prohibited from magistrating on a teletype when you do not have a copy of the warrant, but it is definitely a best practice to have the warrant. Teletypes can sometimes have incorrect information or not have enough detail, which can then result in errors in setting bail. Here are some examples of potential problems:
These are just three examples; other problems could arise as well. So while it is not technically required, TJCTC recommends having a copy of the warrant to ensure that you make a good bail decision.
Texas Supreme Court Finalizes Updates for Rule of Judicial Administration 7
Earlier this week, the Texas Supreme Court published their final updates to the Rules of Judicial Administration regarding confidentiality policies. The new Rule 7.1 requires all courts (including justice courts) to develop a confidentiality policy and rules for training and distributing the policy to court staff. They also helpfully included their own policy which may be used as a model for other courts.
Upcoming Webinars
TAA Lease Update for 2024, hosted by TJCTC (1 civil hr.)
February 23rd from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. TODAY!!!
Join TAA for a review of the latest version of its lease! This class will allow courts to fully understand the terms of the most commonly-used lease in eviction and other landlord-tenant disputes.
Registration link: https://txstate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a5eSTV1pSg2vrIosPqOScA#/registration
Implementing SB4: Magistrate’s Order to Return, hosted by TJCTC
Feb 29th from 2 – 3:00 p.m.
Instructor: Bronson Tucker
This webinar will cover SB 4, taking effect on March 4th, which allows magistrates processing defendants charged with Illegal Entry into Texas to issue orders for the defendant to leave the United States. It is critical that magistrates follow the law precisely to avoid liability, and these issues will be covered in this critical course.
Registration: https://txstate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3oUM3-19S4C40lTAYHqSRA
Impaired Driving Behavioral Interventions Around the Globe, hosted by The Impaired Driving Behavioral Interventions Interest Group
March 13 at 9:00 am Central Time
This webinar will highlight current evidence based impaired driving behavioral interventions conducted in Iran, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. An interactive panel will follow these presentations including:
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M1A93de1SOa9Nz1lIEmTzQ#/registration
National Center for State Court Updates
NCSC Releases New Guide to Mental Health Diversion
This guide is intended to serve as a resource framework for courts and judges to use to promote and implement diversion strategies for individuals with behavioral health needs in their communities. Ideally, judges would collaborate with a range of system stakeholders to examine the entire diversion continuum but could also focus on one step of the process at a time. This guide focuses on jail diversion systems, post arrest, and pre plea. NCSC also hosted a Mental Health Diversion webinar in December 2023 on “Lessons from the Field.”
Download from the NCSC website.
NCSC Inclusive Language Resources
NCSC updated the Gender Inclusive Language Toolkit to reflect the best practices learned since initially releasing it over a year ago. It has a fresh look and light restructuring, but the message is the same. Check it out!
Also, here is a sample benchcard for quick tips and best practices that you can download. While the bench card is primarily directed to judges, the guidance in it is applicable to all professionals in the legal field.
Finally, if you have not yet watched the Tiny Chat or webinar on the topic, they are great quick references.
Updates from the Judicial Commission on Mental Health (JCMH)
JCMH routinely sends out updates including resources and training that is helpful for justice courts. If you would like to get these updates, subscribe to their email list.
Update on Legal Calls
We have had a large number of calls finding their way into the wrong voicemail inboxes. Remember, please dial 512-347-9927 and press “1” for legal calls. If you don’t, the voicemails end up with our program staff who also have a high call volume. Often times your legal call messages end up lost in their inboxes and don’t get transferred to the legal team for several days.
As always, we are looking forward to seeing you at a program in the upcoming months. We have a very busy Spring full of education events for you lined up from TJCTC!
Thea & the TJCTC Team
We had a fantastic webinar presented by Kristi Taylor and Kama Harris from the Judicial Commission on Mental Health (JCMH) earlier this week about Emergency Detention Orders. We wanted to share with you all of the resources that were discussed and let you know it is available to watch as a recording for credit. Make sure that you take some time to look at these, and please feel free to email Amber Myers, a_m1814@txstate.edu with any questions about the resources.
The recording of the webinar and the handouts have been posted on the TJCTC Recordings for Credit Page. Note, please be patient as your credit for this webinar is being posted on your transcript. It can take up to 2-3 weeks.
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
If you want to share information with your local community about the 988 hotline, you can visit the SAMHSA website where there is a toolkit, including posters you can order for your office, cards to hand out, images to post on social media or your website, and other resources.
This resource and many others were also included in TJCTC’s Suicide Prevention Month Newsletter.
Judicial Commission on Mental Health (JCMH) Website
Please take some time to look at the JCMH website, they have a wealth of information created specifically with Texas courts in mind. If you missed this year’s annual summit, you can also sign up to receive updates for next year and watch past sessions.
Deskbooks, Benchcards, & Other Publications
Local Mental Health Authorities
Here you can find a list of local mental health authorities with contact information. If you haven’t already, reach out and get to know them and the services that they offer your county.
Local Mental Health Authorities
LEAP Method Resources
Dr. Xavier Amador has traveled around the world to train family caregivers, peer support specialists, and professionals involved in the care, recovery and safety of persons suffering from serious mental illness. Science-based education, training and other support are used to teach about serious mental illness (SMI), ANOSOGNOSIA (unawareness of illness), and how to more effectively help those suffering from these disorders. On the LEAP Institute’s website you can find more information and training.
education, training and other support are used to teach about serious mental illness (SMI), ANOSOGNOSIA (unawareness of illness), and how to more effectively help those suffering from these disorders. On the LEAP Institute’s website you can find more information and training.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Texas
This is a great resource to refer families to if they need support. They also have fact sheets and other educational resources on mental health conditions if you would like more information.
MentalHealthTX
This is another great website for training and resources, both for court staff and families that are seeking support.
Have a great week!
Thea & the TJCTC Team
