Boise County's Community Justice Department Office

Boise County Court

In the Fourth Judicial District, State of Idaho
County Seat / Courthouse: Idaho City
Clerk of the District Court -Constance Swearingen
 

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District Court

Felony Cases and Civil over 10K

Hon. Judge Patrick Owen

Clerk: Sue Robinson,
(208) 392-4452 ext. #108

Law and Motion Day:   2nd Friday of the Month
10:00 A.M.    -   Criminal
  1:30 P.M.    -   Pretrials & Status Conferences
  2:00 P.M.    -   Civil 

Court Reporter:

(208) 

Pre-sentence Investigator:
Ivalee Morrow
(208) 334-3190 ext. #22

Probation Duty Officer, Probation and Parole:
(208) 334-3190 ext. #-0- 

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Magistrate Court

Misdemeanor Criminal, Civil under 10K, Juvenile, Probates, Small Claims and Weddings

Hon. Judge Roger Cockerille

Clerk: Lisa London
(208) 392-4452   ext. #139 

In Custodies: Daily at 1:15 P.M.
Arraignment and Motion Day: Mondays
Jury Trial Days: 2nd Tuesday of the Month
Horseshoe Bend Court Day: 3rd Tuesday of the Month
Sentencing Day: 4th Tuesday of the Month
Small Claims Court:1st Tuesday of even-numbered Months

For Weddings call Lisa at (208) 392-9593.

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Boise County's Community Justice Department Office 

Judge Roger Cockerille, Director

Vision Statement

The vision of the Boise County Community Justice Department is to encourage and facilitate a collaborative community effort that would hold offenders accountable for their actions in a meaningful and timely manner, promote proactive early childhood prevention strategies, provide children with improved life skills, and enhance community safety.

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Boise County Adult and Juvenile Community Service Work Program

This program allows defendants to perform public service duties as an alternative to incarceration.

The work done throughout our communities is invaluable. Work crews pick up litter; help at transfer stations; work at senior centers; help the Forest Service with clean up projects; work with Fish and Game at the mill pond and other projects; help seniors shovel snow, rake leaves and split wood and anything else needed; work at community closet; helped at libraries, schools, parks and where ever needed.

Assignments to community service come from Boise County Court, Adult and Juvenile Probation, Diversion programs and referrals from other counties or states.

Goal

That participants in this program come away with a sense of accomplishment from a job well done, and that Boise County benefits from regular maintenance and improvement to land and resources.

"To make the best better!"

Contact:
Cheryl Pendergrass, Director –  392-6767

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Juvenile Probation

Kevin Burke
Juvenile Probation Officer
Boise County Community Justice

Office:  (208)  392-6767
E-mail:  kburke@co.boise.id.us

JVOM Referral Form
 

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Mediation

The Boise County Victim Offender Reparation Program

"Mediation is the heart and soul of restorative Justice" Patricia Young 2001.

Mission: The Mission of the Boise county Victim Offender Resolution Program is to provide victims and offenders a safe setting and a confidential process where questions are answered, issues are clarified, and a restitution plan is created.

Members of the mediation program recognize that crime has a ripple effect impacting the entire community.

Local citizens suffer a decreased sense of security and community safety.

Crime harms not only the victim and their family or social network.

Crime impacts the offender, his/her family as well as, friends and most importantly the entire community.

Involvement of community volunteers in this process empowers citizens to actively support all citizens in positive ways, builds community cohesiveness and decrease criminal activity.

Communities gain educational information, tools and skills that can be used to prevent future crimes thus providing security and building safe communities.

Citizen involvement is the key element of success.

The goals:

Provide professional ethical mediation services.

Complete reparation, not only for the victim the community as well.

Hold offenders accountable.

Respond to crime in a timely manner.

Foster collaborative efforts/ opportunities for a Boise County Residents for positive conflict resolution.

Utilize local resources for program maintenance.

The Vision: of the members of this program is to increase prevention methods through the educational use of mediation services and programs, promoting community safety, increased competency, accountability and crime prevention.

History: Mediation is utilized in Boise County as a service of the Boise County Community Justice Department’s Mediation Services Program or VORP (Victim Offender Reparation Program). Currently, juvenile programs are the primary focus of this department, however due to the fact that several professionally certified mediators are either staff members or volunteers of this program, a variety of mediation or referral services are available.

The current juvenile victim offender reparation program (VORP) was implemented last year with a volunteer staff of twelve core community volunteers and two Boise State University Dispute Resolution Interns. All volunteer staff members have been trained in basic mediation skills with an emphasis in juvenile victim offender mediation. Staff members have also been trained in peer mediation. The program currently has juvenile victim offender mediation, child/parent mediation and juvenile community conferencing programs with volunteer participation.

The successful use of these mediation services has had a positive ripple effect enhancing the condemnation of an illicit behavior without labeling a youth offender and promoting stable reintegration of the youth into the community with enhanced competency skills.

Belief that it takes the entire community to raise one child has motivated increasing community volunteer participation resulting in successful conflict management and problem solving efforts.

What is mediation?

Mediation is a voluntary and confidential process. It is a process in which people involved in a conflict seek help from an impartial third party (mediator), someone who is not involved in the dispute and who is trained to help people come to their own agreements. Parties in mediation create their own solutions and the mediator does not have any decision-making power over the agreement.

Mediation is a communication process whereby a trained neutral (the mediator) assists parties in the development of a mutually beneficial, self-determined agreement or resolution of the issues involved their dispute. Mediation sessions are confidential with no information revealed to anyone not a party of the mediation process, except the formal agreement. This method of dispute resolution is non-adversarial, unlike many disputes resolved through litigation finalized with a court ordered judgment. The goal of mediation is a "win-win" solution for any conflict that is derived from mutual interests of the participants, rather than a "win-lose" outcome resulting from a third-party decision. The growing trend of mediation nationwide is due to the ability of parties involved in a conflict to obtain a resolution they design. In a situation when mediation does not prove to be effective, a court-referred case, for example, is referred back and heard by the court, with a judgment decided on by a magistrate, judge or jury.

Who Attends a Mediation Session?

The participants in the session are the mediators, the child, parents or guardians and any others the parties agree should be present because of their essential role in the conflict and resolution of issues.

Who are the Mediators?

Volunteer Mediator Application

The advantages of mediation:

Agreements reached through mediation tend to last over time because the people affected by the decisions are the ones making them.

When parties reach their own agreements, they avoid unpredictable solutions, which often result from alternative adversarial processes.

It is generally more cost effective to reach an agreement through the mediation process than through litigation.

The mediation process protects the integrity of those in dispute and enhances the possibility of a workable future relationship.

Victim –offender mediation can help prevent future crime.

Child parent mediation can prevent legal actions.

Community / neighborhood mediation sessions can prevent litigation.

Mediation can improve communication skills for all involved parties

Mediation teaches everyone involved positive conflict management skills.

Mediation Services Available through the Boise County Community Justice Department.

Several juvenile mediation services are now available at no cost, including:

Juvenile victim offender mediation

Referrals for this process are usually court mandated or through the office of the prosecuting attorney or juvenile probation officer. This process is frequently used in diversion cases.

Juvenile community conferencing

Referrals for this process do not need to be mandated by the court or juvenile probation officer. However they frequently are. If you wish to request this service please complete the attached form and electronically submit it or phone 208-392-6767 and request this service.

Child / Parent

"The relationships of families caught in an escalating dysfunctional cycle of conflict are disrupted, a circumstance that may lead to a daughter or a son’s being referred to juvenile court for behavior such as truancy, running away or being beyond parental control. Mediation may offer a way for families to de-escalate the conflict. It is appropriate for social workers and others to promote the mediation option because turning family conflicts over to the more impersonal court system often results in a superficial decision that deals only partially with the conflict. The adversarial court process pits child and parent against each other, while focusing exclusively upon the juvenile for problems that are related to the family as a system.

In contrast, mediation examines the conflict in context of the family and empowers the child and parent to own the conflict and solution. The agreement reached fits the circumstances of the people involve and mediation models a technique of negotiation that the family members can use in the future."

Child Parent Mediation Services can help resolve such issues as:

Running away from home

Curfew

Parental Authority

Responsibilities at home

Privacy and independence

Social activities & friends

Step family issues

Communication issues

Cultural conflicts

Money / allowance and employment

School authority

Homework/ academic performance

Tardiness/ absenteeism

Guidelines for returning home or placement

Who Attends The Mediation Sessions?

The participants in these sessions are the mediators, the child, parents or guardians and any others the parties agree should be present because of their essential role in the conflict and resolution of issues.

Referrals for this process do not need to be mandated by the court or the juvenile probation officer. However they frequently are. If you wish to request this service please complete the attached form and electronically submit it or phone 208-392-6767 and request this service.

Additional mediation services for all Boise County citizens

Settlement Day: mediation services are available upon request or mandated at no cost. Other services do have fees associated.

Small Claims Civil Disputes under $5,000.00

Community/ neighbor Disputes

Landlord / Tenant

Group Conferencing

Insurance Disputes

Employment Disputes

Organizational Disputes

Mediation services are available upon request or mandated at no cost. Other services do have fees associated.

Divorce/ Child Custody

Adult Victim Offender

Natural Resource Disputes

Agricultural Disputes

This is a referral service of the Boise County Community Justice Department. Fees are dependant upon the individual mediator. Mediators selected for this referral service are all Certified Mediators whom qualify under the Boise State Dispute Resolution Certification Program or the Idaho Mediation Association. Divorce and Child Custody mediators are all currently listed on the Idaho State Supreme Court Child Custody Mediation list. The qualified mediators on this list also actively participate through pro-bono professional services dedicated to the Boise County Community Justice Department.

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New Resource Links:

Fourth Judicial District, State of Idaho:     www2.state.id.us/fourthjudicial/

Idaho State Law Library: www2.state.id.us/lawlib/html/    1-877-345-8236

Idaho State Bar, Attorney Referral:  www.state.id.us/isb   208-334-4500

Court Assistance Office & Forms:  www.state.id.us/caoor www.courtselfhelp.idaho.gov

Legal Aid Services, Sliding Fee Scale:  www.idaholegalaid.org

Legal Forms:     See Yellow Pages.

Idaho Transportation Department (Drivers' License Suspensions):  208-334-8736

Women's Crisis Center, Ada County (Free Services and Shelter):  208-343-7025

Boise County Domestic Violence & Crime Victims' Coordinator:  Fleda Wright, City Life 208-365-1615 or fleda@citylifeinc.com

           

24-Hour CRISIS LINE:  208-870-7414

           

AA & NA Meetings:

In Idaho City area:  Basin Community Health Clinic, AA Meeting every Friday at 7:30 PM

For more information, contact Bud at 392-9562    

In Garden Valley area :  Community Church on the Middlefork Road,  AA Meetings every Monday at 7:00 PM and AL ANON Meetings every Tuesday at 6:00 PM

For more information, contact Jay or Linda Baker at 462-8122.

Celebrate Recover:

Counseling & Support Groups for all issues.

Sunday at 7:00 PM Large Group

Sunday at 8:00 AM Small Group

Child Care provided for 1st through 6th graders.

Step Groups:

Monday at 5:00 PM

For more information call Sarah or Brian at (208) 462-4058.

None available in the Horseshoe Bend area. 

COURT Assistance Office and Forms:       www.state.id.us/cao

Or for Self-help or interactive forms:        www.courtselfhelp.idaho.gov

Or look in the yellow pages under "Legal Forms." 

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