Changes could be coming to Dallas’ juvenile court system following the ouster of long-time member John Wiley Price.
Price’s replacement, Commissioner Andrew Sommerman, communicated his intent to enact changes to the juvenile court system during the Dallas County Commissioners Court’s latest meeting on Tuesday.
Sommerman was voted as the Commissioners Court’s new representative on the juvenile court on April 7 after the court removed Price, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Commissioner Price protested the decision, labeling it a “great-white-hope move.”
Sommerman said in a presentation Tuesday that he had met with several stakeholders, including researcher Erin Espinosa, Dallas County Juvenile Justice Department Executive Director Darryl Beatty, and District Attorney John Creuzot, since his appointment.
Concerns regarding the juvenile court centered around the time children allegedly spend in solitary confinement.
Sommerman claimed he had met children in the system who had been locked in solitary confinement for extended periods.
“This was deeply disturbing to me. This has been something that has been fought by Dallas County on numerous occasions, and not the least of which is by John Wiley Price, who has done an excellent job along those lines,” Sommerman said.
Sommerman’s asserted that credible evidence for this violation was confirmed through interviews with children, parents, Juvenile Department staff, and attorneys.
As such, the commissioner advocated for change in the system.
Sommerman said that the only way to fully understand the consequences of extended stays in solitary confinement is by obtaining observation sheets that document where a detained child is over the course of the day and for how long. He claimed to have made “numerous” requests for these observation sheets, both verbally and in writing, that were denied.
Sommerman said that where he had failed in obtaining these documents, the Commissioners Court could succeed by creating a resolution to have these documents stripped of any identifying information and allow for their review through the Texas Family Code, which allows for certain records to be accessed if needed for administrative purposes.
After presenting this information, Sommerman petitioned the court for a special session in which the court would create a resolution or order to “de-identify” those records and allow for observation.
Sommerman’s presentation also suggested that the situation could be resolved by ensuring a proper inmate-to-officer ratio, establishing cooperation with the juvenile system, mandating six- and 12-month evaluations, initiating external evaluation programs, and other measures.
Price said one item of Sommerman’s presentation gave him pause, the interviewing of children, and he noted that the court lacked the jurisdiction to do so. Price said that he had already been down that particular road.
“We don’t have the authority to interview children … and I’ve been told that before,” Price said. “So the Juvenile Justice division in the past has said that when we had a concern, we had to lodge it with them, and they would dedicate an ombudsman to do a review of it.”
Sommerman said an ombudsman is already conducting an investigation.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins began the process of setting a meeting with the commissioners to address this issue, noting that state issues with foster care might be a compounding issue.
“I do agree with you that at least we need to have a special meeting called because the state’s oversight of juveniles since 2007 has resulted in [juvenile solitary confinement] continually happening,” Jenkins said. “And again, I’m not picking on any person at the state or any person in Juvenile. I think these are correctable problems.”
Price continued to disagree about the court’s jurisdiction.
Commissioner Elba Garcia voiced support for the notion of a special meeting.
“If we have children in solitary confinement for more than 24 hours, shame on us,” Garcia said. “We desperately need changes to the Dallas County juvenile system. Our kids deserve better.”
Jenkins set Monday as a potential date for the special meeting, to which the court agreed.
