Judge quits, ending youth drug court

Kootenai County’s juvenile drug court is finished after its judge quit in the wake of concerns about the program’s management.

First District Judge Benjamin Simpson held his last Juvenile Education and Training (JET) Court session Feb. 16. Simpson declined to comment Monday about why he decided to stop presiding over the program that prosecutors offer to children as an alternative to jail time.

The remaining six children in the program will be referred to the juvenile court judge.

Simpson’s disassociation with the program came just weeks before the county’s three-year, $498,000 federal grant was scheduled to end March 31. Simpson’s decision also followed a nearly monthlong period when the U.S. Department of Justice shut down the county’s access to the grant money because it failed to provide a quarterly report on the program’s finances.

“I’m not going to make any comment at all,” Simpson said. “It’s not something I’m comfortable in doing.”

Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas, whose office oversees JET Court and the federal grant, said that a paperwork glitch caused the federal government to temporarily withhold the money. Program coordinator Marina Kalani said she sent the quarterly report by the Jan. 30 deadline but that the Justice Department had switched grant managers without any notification so the report went to the wrong person.

“It was nothing majorly critical,” Douglas said about the suspended grant funding. “It’s certainly not a crisis. I’m accountable for all that money.”

Douglas said there are no problems with Kalani’s management abilities and that she should have full credit for the program’s success. Since the court began in November 2002, 44 children have enrolled and 12 graduated from the program.

Justice Department grant manager Mark Morgan wasn’t available for comment but county Finance Director David McDowell said the money is flowing again and that the brief hang-up had no significant impact on the county budget.

Douglas said he is unsure why Simpson quit but said the program will continue in a new form that focuses on helping children beat substance abuse before they end up in the county court system.

JET Court took high-risk children who had already violated probation. The juveniles enrolled in the 12-month court program as a way to avoid jail time. Douglas said the new focus will be more intervention, getting children help before they get arrested. The new program, which will use the same grant money, won’t need a judge.

“(Simpson) felt some frustration in program and chose to terminate it early,” said Douglas, who declined to speculate about the judge’s specific concerns. “I disagree with that and think he should have followed through.”

Kalani said the county is asking the Justice Department to extend the grant until October. After that, the money will come from the county budget. County commissioners ultimately must decide whether they want to fund the new program and for how long. Kalani said she will look for other grants and continue to help raise private donations.

The county will have to amend the grant application to reflect the new way in which the money will be spent. Kalani said the intervention-type focus will have the ability to help many more juveniles than the 44 who participated in JET Court.

First District Court Judge Eugene Marano, president of the nonprofit Kootenai County Court Inc., said the group is requesting an “accounting” because questions were raised about how the money was handled, including why Kalani was the only name on the group’s checking account when three names were required. Kalani is treasurer of the nonprofit group that accepts private donations to help with the expense of drug, drunken driving and mental health courts.

“No funds are missing,” Marano said. “All the funds are there. Our concern was that we were not getting an accounting as often as we thought we should.”

He added that the board recently questioned Kalani about a few expenditures but found no inappropriate conduct.

The board is considering putting its money into an account overseen by the county. Marano said McDowell has advised that’s a better way to handle the money.

How the program survives is no longer a concern of the district court, said Administrative Judge Charles Hosack.

“If they can turn it into a successful diversion program so they don’t get into the juvenile justice system, great,” he said.