NPJS Good Works Nomination
4th Judicial District, Division 8 (Juvenile Division)
NPJS is pleased to recognize:
4th Judicial District, Division 8 (Juvenile Division)
- Agency: Washington County Circuit Court
- Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Category: Court Services
For more information, please contact:
Judge Diane Warren
Reason for Nomination:
Judge Diane Warren was elected to the bench of the newly created, Division 8 of the AR 4th Judicial District Court, in 2020 (seated 2021), to assist with the caseload of the Division 3, of this same court. Judge Warren and her team of Officers (Cassie, Thomas, Anna, Ashley, Jatori, Monica, Jennifer, Mesha, Saida, Melissa, & Vergenia) and her support staff (Taylor, Karen, Deputy Fields, Deputy Lott, and RaLenn) have made it their mission to “to rehabilitate youth in order to live productively and responsibly in the community by imposing accountability and empowering families to respect each other and the rule of law” in an effort to reach their team goal “that in addition to maintaining public safety, [Youth receive] skill development, habilitation, rehabilitation, addressing treatment needs, and successful reintegration … into the community”.
Utilizing current diversion programs and alternatives to detention programming in Washington County, developed by Division 3, under the Annie E Casey Foundation Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, Judge Warren’s team has also continued to explore additional court programming, for interventions at various stages of juvenile justice involvement. Their philosophy is that “juveniles who commit crimes can learn from the mistakes they made with the correct guidance as well as the education needed and choose the right direction to take their lives instead of living a life of crime”.
While Judge Warren and her team are in the infancy stages of juvenile court development, with the challenges and learning that entails, they have a commitment to seeing Youth and families succeed and are willing to explore alternative paradigms of justice to support and assist Youth with achieving success. Early indicators of their success include their low juvenile detention rates (intakes and days used) of Youth who are under their supervision. Additionally, in 2023, Division 8, supported Division 3 efforts to reduce long term confinement of Youth and committed a mere 1.11% of the total commits, to the State of AR, via the Arkansas Division of Youth Services, while serving in the third largest County in the State (Washington County, AR).