2210 Hancock Drive, Austin, Texas fax FACULTY BIOGRAPHIAES BIANCA BENTZIN

Transcription

1 2210 Hancock Drive, Austin, Texas fax FACULTY BIOGRAPHIAES BIANCA BENTZIN Bianca Bentzin is the Division Chief for the Prosecution Division for the City of Austin Law Department. Bianca leads a team of attorneys and staff members responsible for the prosecution of Class C misdemeanors cited pursuant to state laws and municipal ordinances. She earned a B.A. in Political Science, History, and French from the University of Arizona in 1990 and her law degree with honors from Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa in After law school Bianca served as an Assistant City Prosecutor for the City of Phoenix for fifteen years including work as a trial attorney, community prosecutor, and technology development attorney. She also served on the Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Arizona and was an adjunct instructor for the paralegal program at Phoenix College teaching Legal Ethics. Bianca is also a national and local speaker on the use of technology in the practice of law, visual trials, professional responsibility, and trial advocacy. JAIME BREW Jaime Brew is the Municipal Court Administrator for the Sugar Land Municipal Court. She has worked in municipal courts for over nine years. Prior to working for the Sugar Land Municipal Court, Mrs. Brew was employed by the Killeen Municipal Court of Record. During her tenure at City of Killeen she held the positions of Clerk of the Court and the Compliance/Collections Manager. Jaime has a very diverse work history. She has previously worked in the areas of mortgage lending, finance, and banking. Mrs. Brew received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. She also received her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas. Jaime participated in the Texas Court Clerks Certification Program and became a Certified Municipal Court Clerk (CMCC) in In August 2016 she became an ICM Certified Court Manager. Mrs. Brew is a member of the Texas Court Clerks Association (TCCA) and serves as a Director at Large on the TCCA Board of Directors. She also serves as the Certification Program Financial Manager for the TCCA Education Committee. Jaime participates in several TCCA State committees such as the Certification and Education, Membership, Public Relations, Publications, and Website. AMY CALHOUN Amy Calhoun has been employed with the Texas Department of Public Safety for 4 years. Amy s time with DPS has been all in Enforcement and Compliance section, where she is currently a Program Supervisor III for Conviction Reporting I. She has completed training for TMCEC Texas Safety Conference and Statewide Impaired Driving Forum provided by the Center for Transportation Safety. ROBBY CHAPMAN Robby Chapman is Director of Clerk Education and Program Attorney for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Prior to working for the Center, Mr. Chapman served as an Assistant District Attorney for Nueces County, the Municipal Court Prosecutor for the City of Cedar Park, and as an attorney in private practice. Mr. Chapman is an ICM Certified Court Manager and has been past presenter for organizations including the National Center for State Courts Institute for Court Management, Texas Court Clerks Association, and Texas Municipal Courts Association. He has received Merit Certification in Municipal Prosecution from the Texas City Attorneys Association and the Board of Director s Award from the Texas Court Clerks Association. Mr. Chapman earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from St. Mary s University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts in History from The University of Texas at Austin. MICHELLE CHEWNING Michelle Chewning has been employed with the City of Irving Municipal Court for the last 25 years. She has always worked in the court and started as the telephone operator. She currently is the Court Services Coordinator

2 and oversee our data entry and downloading citations, scanning, docketing, correspondence, our community service program, jail desk and attorney correspondence. Mrs. Chewning is currently Level 2 certified and working her way towards Level III. She believes that the certification program is highly important to our chosen profession and would love to help other clerks attain this goal. HILDA CUTHBERTSON Hilda Cuthbertson grew up in Pearsall, Texas and graduated from Pearsall High School. A College degree was pursued and graduated from Sul Ross State University (Alpine, Texas) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. Ms. Cuthbertson taught High School Science classes for five and half years at three different Texas school districts. She taught at Pecos High School in Pecos, Texas, Yates High School in Houston, and Dublin High School, Dublin, Texas. She worked at the University of Houston, Mexican American Studies Program as the secretary to the Program Director from While working with the Mexican American Studies Program she assisted Dr. Margarita B. Melville with co-editing the, Reflections of the Mexican Experience in Texas, proceedings of a Symposium by the Texas Committee for the Humanities and Mexican American Studies, April She also assisted Dr. Margarita B. Melville with huge undertaking of the coordination and contact with sixteen widely contributors to the book, Twice A Minority, Mexican American Women. During the summers of 1980 and 1981 she worked at the University of Houston, Executive Development Center. Ms. Cuthbertson joined the City of Bryan in March of 1983 as an employee of the City Secretary s office and was promoted to Court Administrator in July She was presented the City of Bryan Division Employee of the Year Award in 1989 and again in She was also honored with the City of Bryan Employee of the Year award in Ms. Cuthbertson served as Vice President, 1989 through 1992, and President of the Texas Court Clerks Association from 1992 to She was also the Texas Municipal League affiliate representative from Since 1985, she has been very involved with the Gulf Coast Chapter of TML and held the position of President twice, and again Ms. Cuthbertson outstanding achievements include The Texas Court Clerks Association s Distinguished Service Award (1995), Extraordinary Achievement Award (1996 & 2004), and Award of Excellence (1997). The Texas Municipal Courts Association also recognized her as the Clerk of the Year. At the 2013 TCCA annual conference she was awarded the Texas Court Clerks Association Board of Directors Award for her contributions to the administration of Texas municipal courts. Ms. Cuthbertson has been a valued staff member of the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center since 1991 by contributing her skills and talents by teaching various subjects. She is a past member of the TCCA Education Committee, which oversees the statewide court clerk certification program. She currently serves as the Secretary for the Texas Municipal Courts Association. She is a Level I and Level II certified court clerk and has also been a certified study session facilitator for Level I and Level II. She is also a State of Texas Licensed Court Interpreter in Spanish. In February 2010, she successfully completed the National Center for State Courts, Institute for Court Management Program and achieved the status of Certified Court Manager. In June 2012 she earned the Court Executive certification which is a step towards earning the designation of a Fellow. In May of 2013, she graduated at the United States Supreme Court as a Fellow of the National Center for State Courts, Institute for Court Management, a prestigious national certification program equivalent to a master s degree program.

3 Ms. Cuthbertson has been active within her community. She was named Woman of Distinction by the Bluebonnet Girl Scout Council in In 2009, she was a Bryan Prenatal Clinic Your Tops honoree. She has been a presenter, English and Spanish, for the Bryan Police Department Citizens Police Academy twice a year. She is a past volunteer at the Dispute Resolution Center as a bilingual certified mediator for family law and other types of mediation. She is past volunteer with Habitat working with the Family Selection Committee. She is a Past President of the local Habitat for Humanity Affiliate Board of Directors. She is a current Bryan Rotary member and has served on their Board of Directors. Ms. Cuthbertson retired from the City of Bryan with over 31 years of service. Over 28 years of her service was as the Court Administrator. She has written a couple of articles for the TCCA, The Scribe. She has joined the Alan Bojorquez Law Firm as known as Texas Municipal Lawyers and is the Court Program Director. Ms. Cuthbertson and her attorney partner provide educational seminars/training, auditing/validations and court consulting. ELIZABETH DE LA GARZA Elizabeth De La Garza joined the TMCEC team as a TxDOT Grant Administrator for Driving on the Right Side of the Road in June Ms. De La Garza has spent the last 32 years as a public school teacher in the Round Rock Independent School District, spending most of these years at Chisholm Trail Middle School teaching music and social studies. She has her BME from Baylor University in Waco, and completed her MME at The University of Texas at Austin. Ms. De La Garza is a native of San Antonio. ESMERALDA GARCIA Judge Esmeralda Essie Peña Garcia is currently in her 30 th year on the bench. In 1987, Judge Garcia was appointed as an Associate Judge with the Houston Municipal Courts, and in 2000 was appointed as a full-time Judge. During the last 8 years, Judge Garcia has presided over one of Houston s Jury Courts. She received her BA from the University of Houston and Doctorate in Jurisprudence from the University of Houston Law Center. During 16 years in private practice, Judge Garcia specialized in Criminal and Juvenile defense. Prior to law school, Judge Garcia worked as an investigative social worker on the Abuse Team for Harris County Children s Protective Services. Judge Garcia has served on the TMCA and TMCEC Board of Directors since 2012, and currently serves on the Boards as First Vice-President. Judge Garcia is involved with many professional and community organizations. She has been a member and volunteered with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for 17 years and earned Lifetime Committeeman in Judge Essie Garcia is a native Houstonian and proud mother of three children. FREDERICK GARCIA Frederick P. Garcia Jr. is currently the Municipal Court Clerk for the City of San Antonio. Mr. Garcia graduated from St. Mary s University with a degree in business administration and later Texas Tech University with his juris doctorate. Mr. Garcia has previously worked as a municipal court prosecutor, bank auditor, and attorney in a private practice that concentrated on criminal defense and family law. TRACIE GLAESER Ms. Glaeser began her career in municipal court at the City of Round Rock and remained there as Court Administrator for 21 years. In 2007, she moved to the Dallas area and joined the Municipal Court team at the city of Lewisville as the Court Manager. Tracie retired from Lewisville in March 2012 to move back to the Austin area to be closer to her family. Ms. Glaeser completed her Certified Court Manager s certificate with the National Center for State Courts, Institute for Court Management in February 2010 and was the 11 th clerk in the state of Texas to become a Certified Municipal Court Clerk. Ms. Glaeser achieved her level I certification in 1998, level II certification in 2002 and achieved Level III certification (CMCC) in Additionally, she completed Leading, Educating and Developing

4 (LEAD), a 40 hour program sponsored by Weldon Cooper and held at the University of Virginia Leadership Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. During her career, Ms. Glaeser has been active in the Texas Court Clerk s Association and the Texas Municipal Courts Association serving in a variety of positions ranging from Chapter President to serving the membership on the Board of Directors as Vice President. She has served the Texas Municipal Courts Association (TMCA) as a member of the TMCEC Education Committee and Texas Court Clerks Association (TCCA) as the Chair of the Certification Program Education Committee from 2006 to Ms. Glaeser is a certified instructor for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center for more than 15 years and has continued to serve as faculty for the New Judges and Clerks, Court Administrators, Level III Assessment Clinic and the ICM program. Additionally, she has been active as an instructor for Citizens Police Academy, a variety of leadership and management classes and has been a regular panel member for software and imaging instruction with MCCI-Laserfiche. Ms. Glaeser is an approved instructor for the Clerk Certification Program for continuing education hours provided by the TCCA chapters. Ms. Glaeser joined the TMCEC team in September of 2016 as Program Coordinator. MARY JANE GRUBB Mary Jane Grubb is an East Texas native and has worked in Texas Municipal Courts for 20 years with more than ten years of court administration and management experience. She has held the positions of Court Clerk and Deputy Court Clerk in the cities of Gladewater and Lancaster and Court Administrator for the cities of Balch Springs and McKinney. After a short stint in the private sector, she joined the team at Austin Municipal Court as Clerk of the Court in October of She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is a Level III Certified Municipal Court Clerk. Mary Jane has a passion for providing individuals and organizations with the resources needed to be successful, increase efficiencies, and remain effective and relevant within their industries. She strongly supports the certification program and believes that it provides the foundation and knowledge necessary for court clerks to perform their duties in a manner that is consistent with the fair and impartial administration of justice. JANET HAGE Janet Hage is the court clerk for the City of Jarrell Municipal Court. She began working in city government 6 years ago as a volunteer and has been courk clerk since Ms. Hage is a Level II Certified Court Clerk and will be pursing Level III Certifcation in She is looking forward to the opportunity to help others achieve certification! RYAN HENRY Ryan Henry graduated with honors from New Mexico State University with dual bachelor s degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology in He attended law school at Texas Tech School of Law and graduated in May of While attending law school, Ryan began clerking for the Lubbock City Attorney s Office. He received his third-year practice card and began prosecuting municipal court complaints and appearing in Justice of the Peace court for the City. As a result, he began defending governmental entities even before he graduated from law school and so began his career supporting local governments. Upon graduation, Ryan began working in Brownsville, Texas, with the same focus. In June of 2002, Ryan moved to San Antonio and joined a local law firm doing the same thing. In 2012, Ryan started the Law Offices of Ryan Henry, PLLC. In June 2016 Ryan was listed as one of the best lawyers in municipal law by S.A. Scene Magazine in the San Antonio area. Ryan is also on the board for the State Bar Section - Government Law Council. LANDRA HUDSON-SOLANSKY Landra Hudson has been formally recognized in her community for establishing a good working relationship with county law enforcement officials, developing formal magistrate procedures for City cases and implementing new

5 policies and procedures within the Seguin Municipal Court. Landra is a Level III Municipal Court Clerk and President of the Freedom Trail Chapter of the Texas Court Clerks Association. Landra has been employed with the City of Seguin since September 2008 and currently holds the position of Municipal Court Administrator. LEAH HUFF Ms. Huff began her 15 year career with the Fort Worth/Dallas based, municipal law firm of Taylor, Olson, Adkins, Sralla and Elam, L.L.P. as a paralegal, and promoted to Law Office Administrator. In 2006, she joined the City of Southlake as the Municipal Court Administrator for five years, with major accomplishments including the development of a high-level technological court process with her team through implementation of paper-light, audio/visual court recording, online / kiosk payments and warrant interface with remote dispatch center, while building a quality team through the World Famous Seattle FISH! Program. Tyler Technologies offered her the opportunity to assist other courts through implementation of the paper-light and legal court processes across nine states, and soon afterwards a precious granddaughter was born (The Princess). Ms. Huff achieved her Texas Court Clerk's Certification, Level I certification in 2007, Level II certification in 2008 and began her Level III certification (CMCC) assessment clinic in Currently, she is pursuing completion of her Certified Court Manager s certificate with the National Center for State Courts Institute for Court Management. Additionally, she graduated from Strategic Government Resources Fourth Dimension Leadership Model Academy in 2009 and from nationwide trainer Coach Rick Kolster's Leadership Academy in 2007, as well as numerous paralegal and law office administrative certification and CLE courses. During her career, Ms. Huff has been active in the Texas Court Clerk s Association, North Texas Court Clerk's Association, and the Texas Municipal Courts Association serving in a variety of positions ranging from Director at Large to Conference Committee Chair & Committee Member, as well as on the Education Committee. Ms. Huff is a certified instructor for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center since 2007 and has continued to serve as faculty for the Court Clerk's School, New Judges and Clerks Boot Camp, and Court Administrators. Additionally, she has been active as an instructor for a variety of leadership and management courses across the United States, sharing her passion for court and the law, and has been an active trainer for software and imaging instruction with Tyler Technologies and Laserfiche. Ms. Huff is an approved instructor for the Clerk Certification Program for continuing education hours provided by the TCCA chapters and regularly facilitates training opportunities across the State of Texas to share court and technology knowledge, as well as build court "share communities" to encourage court clerks to support each other in the municipal court profession. Soon after the Princess was born, Ms. Huff joined the Business Development Team at Municipal Services Bureau d/b/a Gila, L.L.C., fulfilling her passion for court and the law by training on court procedures, technological processes and facilitating court collection and cash handling best practices with Municipal Court clients, cities, counties & state agencies across 38 states. CASEY KENNEDY Casey Kennedy joined OCA as the Director of Information Services in His team provides direct IT support for the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, the 14 intermediate appellate courts and several judicial branch state agencies. Additionally, Casey manages the largest volume efiling system in the known universe. Casey is also the lead OCA staff for the Judicial Committee on Information Technology or JCIT. The committee is appointed by the Supreme Court and makes recommendations and sets standards for court technology in Texas. Casey is currently the vice-chair of the Court Information Technology Officer Consortium, a national organization of Court IT professionals. He holds a BA in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.

6 ROBERT MARTINEZ Robert Martinez Jr. is the Court Clerk for the City of West Lake Hills. He started his career in 2005 with the City of Round Rock and has worked in small to large courts throughout the State. He is Level II certified and a new Facilitator for TMCEC. He is a member of the Texas Court Clerk s Association and currently serves as a Director at Large with Association and is Chair of the Publications Committee (The Scribe). He is also a helping member on the Chapter Steering and Legislative committees. NED MINEVITZ Ned Minevitz, a Massachusetts native, has served as TxDOT Grant Administrator and Program Attorney at the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center since November, Mr. Minevitz also serves as General Counsel for Everthin, LLC, a startup company based in Massachusetts. He received his B.A. from Connecticut College in New London, CT where he majored in East Asian Studies. Spending extensive time in China after college, Mr. Minevitz is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. In 2013, Mr. Minevitz earned his J.D. from the Sandra Day O Connor College of Law in Tempe, AZ. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, golf, and squash. TIMOTHY PREECE Tim Preece is a native Texan who had been with the Department of Public Safety for the last 23 years. He is a graduate from Southwest Texas State University, now known as Texas State University. He has spent most of his career in the Enforcement Compliance Service as a Customer Service Analyst, and for over 3 years he has served as an instructor for the DPS Training Academy and Customer Service Contact Center. He began his new role as DRP Program Manager June 13, PAT RIFFEL Pat Riffel, CMCC, is the Court Administrator for the City of Friendswood. She has a Bachelor s Degree in Political Science and is a Licensed Social Worker. She joined the court clerk profession in December She is a Level III, Certified Municipal Court Clerk. She has also achieved status as a Certified Court Manager through the National Institute of Court Management. She currently serves as faculty for both the Texas Municipal Court Education Center and National Center for State Courts. Pat is a member of the Texas Court Clerk s Association and serves as Co- Chair of the Education Committee, and Chair of the Ethics Committee. ZINDIA THOMAS Zindia Thomas is an Assistant General Counsel for the Texas Municipal League. She provides legal information to the city attorneys, other city officials and other persons and groups interested in municipal law, assists with legislative and educational programs, researches and drafts legal briefs and memos, reviews and analyzes legislation and state agency rules; meets, monitors, and testifies, as necessary, before legislative committees and state agencies. Prior to joining TML, Zindia was an Assistant Attorney General at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for almost 15 years. She worked in various divisions over her years at the OAG, including the Administrative Law Division assisting several state agencies with various issues. Previously, she worked in the White Collar Crime & Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Prosecution Division. Also, Mrs. Thomas provided legal assistance to cities, counties, economic development corporations and other local governments on various issues such as open records, open meetings, conflicts of interest, nepotism, and economic development, as well as, served as the Public Information Coordinator and Assistant Public Information Coordinator answering open records request that came to the OAG. But even before joining the OAG in June 2001, Ms. Thomas was a legislative aide for State Representative Robert Junell during the 77 th Texas Legislature and was an assistant city attorney for the City of Austin in the Austin Municipal Court. Ms. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Government from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law.

7 ERICA WILSON Erica Wilson joined the Records Management Assistance Unit s team of Government Information Analysts in September of She s been working in different divisions of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for over 10 years, and spent the last eight with the State and Local Records Management Division. Erica received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in English. She had a supervisor who was fond of telling his employees that the three pillars that support democratic government in Texas are the Public Information Act, the Open Meetings Act, and Records Management laws, as these promote transparency and accountability in government. This is what drew her to Records Management and she enjoys helping others in government work to improve their own RM programs. It is particularly rewarding to help an agency to become compliant because it is the first step in developing a RM program. BONNIE ZUBER Bonnie Zuber is a Government Information Analyst at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. She provides training and consulting services on records retention, disposition, imaging, emergency planning and longterm preservation. Prior to moving to Austin in 2012 to join the team at the State Library, she worked in public libraries for almost a decade and earned a Master of Library Science in 2009 from Texas Woman s University. After graduation, she managed records at a financial advisory firm in Dallas, which led to an interest in helping the government sector wrangle information. She does not know all the answers, but is excited to help you all find them!