Elmore County juvenile judge has three points of emphasis

Judge Ben Baxley has been around the courtroom for decades and has seen it all as a prosecutor.

At the beginning of the summer Baxley swapped roles in the court system when he was appointed as Elmore County District Court Judge. He has taken on the role as presiding juvenile court judge and quickly started looking at juvenile cases through three points of emphasis — action, attendance and accountability.

Action comes quickly in the juvenile courts under Baxley when it comes to delinquency and threats.

“I take those things seriously,” Baxley said. 

In recent months, threats against Elmore County Schools have occurred. There have been weapons on school campuses at both Elmore County and Tallassee schools.

Juvenile court records are sealed and Baxley said he can’t publicly speak on cases. But he said he has been quick to detain juveniles as young as 10 when law enforcement and educators bring petitions to him.

Baxley said he is pro-Second Amendment but believes the law provides appropriate supervision of juveniles with guns. He has a general rule of thumb with juveniles found to be in possession of guns both on and off school campuses.

“It’s a day in youth detention for every round of ammunition they have,” Baxley said.

Baxley is just as quick to sign off on detention for school threats.

The detentions start almost immediately from the time juveniles are found with the guns.

Baxley said the process starts when law enforcement detain and enquire with juvenile probation officers about what to do. They check to see if beds for juvenile detention are available and often go ahead and detain the juvenile.

“They have to have a hearing within 48 hours of their detention,” Baxley said. “It is similar to a probable cause hearing in the regular courts.”

Baxley has also dealt with truancy cases from the juvenile bench. Since May he has already ordered incarceration for three adults as the result of juveniles missing school with excessive unexcused absences. 

With seven days of unexcused absences in schools, juveniles are considered truant.

“Often that is when parents and the child have their first encounter with juvenile courts on the matter,” Baxley said. 

Baxley wants to make parents aware of the seriousness of the issue. He has started a new program working with the Elmore County Board of Education and juvenile probation officers. Parents are notified by phone after the first unexcused absence; by phone and letter on the second; and a meeting with school officials after the third for both Elmore County and Tallassee school systems. 

At the fifth excused absence, Baxley now brings the parents and child to the juvenile court room for a Truancy Early Warning on the issue.

“It’s not a situation where anyone will be detained just yet,” Baxley said. “It is a class setting where we have between 10 and 50 families. We want to make them aware of the seriousness of the issue.”

It has quickly grown from one meeting a month to two.

Baxley said the reason for his taking school attendance seriously is because he has noticed it was a root cause of lack of education in defendants.

“Without an education, they struggle to make a living,” Baxley said. “They didn’t attend school and classes.”

With all the meetings, Baxley wants to make sure everyone is held accountable. 

“When kids make large mistakes, there has to be a cost,” Baxley said. “Most will get probation and work with the juvenile probation officers. They have programs to help them get back on track. They also help mitigate restitution when necessary. It is all done behind the cloak of juvenile court. It will not be shared with the public.”

Detaining juveniles when necessary has become a bigger issue because of the growth of Elmore County. 

“There has to be a meaningful threat of detention,” Baxley said

For the last 14 years, the county has had three juvenile detention beds through contracts in Montgomery. They are funded from the county and the state.

At the same time the population of Elmore County has grown from 79,000 to more than 90,000.

Currently Autauga County with a population of 60,000 has four juvenile detention beds under contract. Talladega with a population of 81,000 has six beds available. Cullman County with a population of 92,000 has 11 beds available.

“Following those statistics, Elmore County should have seven beds,” Baxley said.

But Baxley isn’t wanting to go that far, not yet.

“The county has been great to help with the three beds we have had,” Baxley said. “We find ourselves needing more and hope the county can help.”