TJJD News & Announcements

AUSTIN, Texas – TJJD welcomed juvenile justice professionals from across the state to Austin for the 11th biennial Post-Legislative Conference and Budget Workshop, held July 31-August 2, 2017, at the Omni Southpark Hotel. The TJJD Post-Legislative Conference had approximately 360 participants in attendance and provided individuals with an overview of changes made during the 85th Texas Legislative session, specifically bills impacting juvenile justice, DFPS, victims of crime, human trafficking, sex offenders, the Code Of Criminal Procedure, the Penal Code, and county government with some of the most notable changes occurring with juvenile records. In addition, audience members heard about legislative appropriations to TJJD and the overall impact of funding changes to the juvenile justice system, along with the enhancement of regionalization efforts. Representative Gene Wu provided the keynote presentation to participants as a supporter of TJJD’s mission and to the Texas juvenile jus...

AUSTIN, Texas – I must start off by welcoming new board members to the TJJD team. Governor Abbott appointed James Castro, Stephanie Moreno, Allison Palmer, and Jimmy Smith recently to complete the Texas Juvenile Justice Board. I am excited about what these individuals will bring to the leadership of TJJD and look forward to working with each of them. With the 85th Texas Legislative Session behind us, it is now time to assess the results. While no legislation passed that makes sweeping changes to the system, there were a few bills that passed worth noting. SB 1304, known as the Juvenile Records Advisory Committee bill, passed, thanks in large part to the diligent efforts of William Carter, CPO in Lubbock County along with Mark Williams, CPO in Tom Green County. There was a focus on foster children this session that resulted in several bills passing that would increase sharing of information between the Department of Family and Protective Services and juvenile justice agencies, incl...

AUSTIN, Texas – With the 85th Texas Legislative Session more than halfway complete, much time and energy is spent right now on the decisions being made at the Capitol. Several of us from TJJD are regularly at the Capitol talking about the needs of our system. Many of our county partners and juvenile justice practitioners are doing the same. In February, I testified before the Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee to lay out the budget needs for both TJJD and county probation partners. Since that time, each committee has completed their work; in the coming weeks, we will see each bill discussed on the floor of each house. While I wish I could say we received funding for all of our needs, the unusually tight fiscal climate this session means most of our exceptional item requests did not receive favorable review. The House allows for floor amendments to the budget. This is the only remaining opportunity for substantive changes to the budget before Conferen...