Englewood municipal court reports 2024 underspend, expands restorative justice services

Kennetha Julian, Court Administrator for the Englewood Municipal Court, told the Budget Advisory Committee on March 25 that the court’s 2024 operating budget of about $1.4 million was underspent — the court used roughly $1.1 million and returned about $250,000 to the city.

Julian said revenues rose in 2024 largely because of increased parking and traffic infraction filings. “Revenues are a byproduct of court conducting business. They’re not the purpose of the judicial system,” she said, adding that fines and fees are “allocated per code as set and determined and assessed by the judge based on the individual case and circumstances.”

The presentation framed the court’s work around its mission to ensure “justice and dignity for all.” Julian outlined staffing and program changes: Presiding Judge Joe Jefferson is the elected judge; the court uses four associate judges to meet statutory bond-hearing requirements and cover absences. Evan Vrenrich is the deputy court administrator; the court has four court specialists but noted one vacancy being held for vacancy-savings and workload balance. The full-time Court Navigator position is vacant after the prior navigator became the city prosecutor.

Julian described the court’s restorative justice program as a growing element of services. In 2024 the court referred 96 cases to restorative justice, held 47 conferences, had 73 accountability contracts pending, and recorded 53 completed contracts. The program reported 68 volunteers and eight volunteers who completed facilitator training. Julian credited AIMS (the community partner) with recruiting volunteers and supporting community circles.

Probation and case management figures cited in the presentation included 37 supervised probation cases in 2024 (25 closed during the year, 21 successfully completed) and 270 unsupervised or conditional cases (232 closed, 39 successfully completed). The court navigator position handled 149 clients with 295 contacts and about 251 referrals to other resource providers; staff notified at least 44 individuals of pending warrants. Julian said the court issued about 807 bench warrants across roughly 6,300 cases, and that bench-warrant totals remain high compared with recent years.

Julian described technology and grant-driven improvements. The court continues to develop an eCourt case-management interface with the police department’s Brazos ticketing system to reduce manual data entry. The court also obtained an $86,000 JAG (Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant) to fund part-time administrative help for restorative justice and court navigation and to conduct a community needs survey on housing and mental-health resources. A smaller TD grant provided about $800 in bus passes in 2024 (Julian said the court received additional bus passes in 2025) to assist defendants with transportation for hearings, counseling and other services.

On services and outcomes, Julian said online payments are increasing but remain small: 44 cases were paid online in 2024, primarily for parking. She noted that parking cases typically do not require court-appointed counsel and therefore cost less in contractual professional services. The court budget included about $239,000 for contractual professional services (interpreters, court-appointed counsel for indigent defendants and bond hearings, and related services); the court spent about $200,000 of that line and returned roughly $40,800.

Julian raised procedural and legislative challenges the court faces, including the state “48‑hour” bond‑hearing requirement and limits on pretrial detention for certain offenses. She said bond‑hearing representation is statutorily required and that recent state legislative changes and proposed bills on personal recognizance (PR) bond and failure-to-appear rules complicate local case resolution. Julian also discussed efforts to expand virtual appearances with Denver and other counties to reduce transport costs and improve safety and efficiency when defendants are held outside Englewood.

Committee members asked about distinctions between traffic infractions and traffic offenses; Julian replied that offenses typically involve accidents or excessive speed thresholds (for example, more than 25 mph over the limit). Members also asked whether the court is actively recruiting to fill the court navigator vacancy; Julian said the court will use grant-funded part-time hours (about 20 hours) while evaluating whether a full-time navigator is warranted and coordinating resources with the library and other Tri-Cities partners.

The presentation closed with committee questions about returned funds, interpreter costs and Sunday hearing workload; Julian said fluctuations were driven largely by caseload and interpreter needs. No formal committee action was taken on the court presentation itself.