MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The incoming chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court said Tuesday she wants to create a criminal division within the Supreme Court’s administrative system and a “job court” aimed at connecting people convicted of a crime with job training programs.
Republican Sarah Stewart, elected to the position earlier this month, told the Alabama Re-Entry Commission that she planned to use a job court model developed by former Dallas County District Court Judge Bob Armstrong in Selma.
“Essentially, you would have to go to his court, either weekly or bimonthly, and the goal of that court was to get you a job,” she said. “He would have people come in and assess their skill level. Do they have to learn how to read? What can they do? What is their manual dexterity, all those things that you are trying to do to get work for somebody.”
According to Stewart, the court then partnered with the Wallace Community College to provide job training and with religious organizations that then offered transportation to those without a vehicle to ensure they had the means to commute to their workplaces.
Stewart also told the commission she wants to create a criminal division that would put “all of the different things that we do right now in the Administrative Office of the Courts …under one umbrella.” Stewart estimated that about 70% of trial courts’ time in Alabama is spent on criminal litigation.
Stewart said Bennet Wright, the executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission, will help lead that area of the court system while retaining his current post.
Wright’s role, she said, will be to develop a system based on the best practices that are supported by evidence and data.
“We have a lot of work to make that vision come true,” Stewart said. “Our (court referral officer) programs are spotty across the state, (and) our accountability courts are spotty. We need to make sure they are using evidence-based services and that we can keep up statistically with what is happening.”
The job court will occupy space within the accountability court system, along with drug treatment court, veterans court and mental health court, all of which are charged with providing resources to defendants to ensure their success.
“What we are really trying to do is keep them from offending again,” Stewart said of the defendants who appear in trial court. “We are trying to get the recidivism rate as low as we can get it.”
Committee members generally supported the measures, although some expressed a few concerns.
“I think what you are doing is great,” said Cam Ward, chair of the Commission and director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. “One of the things I have noticed lately is that we have all different branches and agencies going toward the same goal. We all have the same ideas, but we are not talking to each other.”
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, also wanted to retain Wright’s services in his capacity as Sentencing Commission director.
“Just want to make sure that you let Bennet work with us just a little bit,” he said.
Stewart gave her assurances that Wright will continue working to help the Legislature as director of the Sentencing Commission.
This article originally appeared in the Alabama Reflector, an independent, nonprofit news outlet. It appears on FOX54.com under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
