Veterans Outreach Court with Judge Daryl Manning

Hillsborough County Judge Daryl Manning joins us with information about the upcoming Hillsborough County Veterans Outreach Court.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, there are nearly one hundred thousand veterans in Hillsboro County,
and it's no secret that some of them have fallen
on hard times of one sword or another in the
years since they mustered out as a way to help
sort through things like legal issues, fines, legal fees. The
Thirteenth Judicial Court is getting ready to stage its annual
Veterans Outreach Court on Friday, November seventh. It's held just

(00:22):
once a year. This year's mandatory registration deadline is coming
up fast Friday, October twenty second. We are delighted to
welcome in studio CIRCA Judge Darryl Manning, who will preside
over the Outreach Court. So, Judge Manning, let's talk first
of all about how the court got started and how
it's evolved over the years.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Of course, good morning reading Dana. Good to be with
both of you all. I'm happy to be involved with
this process. We've been doing it for going on nine
years now. Myself, Judge Michael Williams and Judge Kimberly Brennan,
they have been star wars in assisting veterans. You mentioned
we have some veterans that have returned back and fallen

(01:03):
on hard times, they haven't been able to assimilate back
into the community like we would hope, and so sometimes
they face some outstanding legal issues that need some attention
and they don't go away on their own. They need
some help, they need some assistance. And we're fortunate enough
in Hillsborough to have some community partners such as the

(01:25):
Sheriff's Office, the Public Defender's office, the State Attorney's office,
as well as the Clerk of the court, and we've
all come together to provide this outstanding service for our
veterans in Hillsborough County.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
So can you tell us a little bit about what
types of legal issues veterans are dealing with that this
court can help with and also what the impact is
of the court once they can get these legal issues resolved.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Absolutely, and let me start with a couple of things
that we do not cover. So we're not dealing with
child support issues and relieving veterans or anyone their child
support requirements. We're not dealing with major felonies. Those are
to be dealt with in other courts. So we're dealing
with those minor issues such as some misdemeanor warrants that

(02:12):
are still active. Some fines, some legal fees that are
out there. Maybe the veteran had a trespass, maybe they
had some court cost or fees that they didn't pay,
maybe some probation cost, things along those lines. That started
off small could have been as low as forty dollars,
and with interest and with late fees, those things can

(02:34):
blossom up to in the hundreds and some we've seen
in the thousands of dollars. And so it's those minor
issues that simply don't go away that the veterans are
encumbered by, and we wanted to give them a helping hand.
And that's the kind of things that we deal with
in this court.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
What about traffic traffic court cases and stuff like that,
do you deal with those?

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Absolutely, that's a huge one. Yeah, we definitely see that
across the board and that suspension license. It has impact
on your employment when you have these traffic infractions. Read
light camera tickets started one hundred and fifty eight dollars
and next thing you know, it's in the thousands of
dollars because it wasn't handled a year or two ago.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Now you mentioned a moment ago. Some of the cases
that you don't deal with, but give me a sense
of the criteria for eligibility to take part in this court.
How does that work?

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Sure? And that's why I'm glad you mentioned that registration
deadline of October twenty second, it's extremely important. We don't
want anyone showing up to the VA location and say,
I'm here, help me out, because one, we need to
ensure that they meet the criteria. The first one is
they have to be a veteran, and we don't want
anyone that has not been a veteran to come and

(03:43):
claim that status. So we go through with the VA
and we check their status to ensure that they are
a veteran that's eligible for the program. And the next
thing is that they have infractions within the County of Hillsboro,
and those are the ones that we can deal with.
The Clerk of the court is menal in going through
the records, even things that they're not even aware of,

(04:04):
even a ticket or an infraction that they had from
years ago that they're not aware of, and then the
clerk will pull it up, will identify it, and those
are the things that we can address. So that's the
eligibility that they're a veteran, that they have some infractions
that fall within the criteria that we're able to deal with,
and then the other judges and myself are happy to
assist them.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
How many people end up taking advantage of this program
on that day?

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Sure? Sure, so over the years it has steadily increased.
We anticipate that we'll have somewhere around fifty to seventy
five veterans that will show up. Now, even though it's
say fifty, some of them may have four or five,
maybe eight items that just never got dealt with in
our outstanding, So we'll try to do a one stop
shop take care of all their needs in terms of court.

(04:48):
And then in addition to that, we have some other
community partners that have joined in with us, such as
a local barber given them a shave and a haircut.
We have folks from the Pet Room Resource Center that
are there, code enforcement from Hillsborough County, so we have
a plethor of individuals. And then finally Mission Barbecue, so
we don't leave the let the veterans leave off without

(05:10):
a good meal. Oh well, Mission Barbecue takes care of them.
Their legal matters are resolved, the state comes in with
the DMV van, they get their license restored, and then
they get a nice, hearty meal and they're pleased and happy,
and they leave very excited.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
I would imagine that that once these things are taking
care for these veterans, it's like a huge weight is
lifted for them in terms of not having those fines
hanging over their heads, not having those employment issues, getting
their license ree in state. Like it has an impact.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Oh absolutely, you know, I don't want to over exaggerate,
but you see a lot of the veterans come in
and they're kind of walking slow, and they look a
little beat down. And then after going through this process
and meeting with Judge Michael Williams and Judge Kimberly Brennan
and going through all the things that are outstanding with
them and then really engaging with them. It's not you know,
one minute and in your in and out. I mean,

(06:01):
these judges are having conversations with the veterans, finding out
about their service, finding out how they're doing in the community,
their employment status and things along those lines, and then
really taking care of them as it pertains to that.
And then those community partners I mentioned are helping them out,
and then they look like new people when they're walking
out with their head up, you know, straight, and their
back you know, erect.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
It looks great. I think you made a very good point.
I want to come back to for a second. We're
talking to Circuit Judge Darryl Manning about the veterans outreach court.
I think it would be a little bit, you know,
a lot of stress, you know, going coming before a judge.
All right, in a court room. What do you guys
do to kind of make things a little bit easy, makeing,

(06:43):
you know, put them at ease, so to speak. You
mentioned that you that there, you're often you have a
lot of conversations with them, because it sounds like what
you want to do is put these guys at ease
and make sure that they understand that there's a second
chance involved here.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Absolutely so, so let me at the stage because this
is important. We decided a number of years ago to
take this court process out of the courthouse because we
understand it could be a little intimidating you're coming in there.
Anytime you look at news programs and you see the courthouse,
usually probably some kind of criminal matter going on, and
so you might be a little bit intimidated. So we

(07:18):
purposely put the court proceedings at the Va location. So
these are places that the veterans are used to going
and they feel comfortable and they're at ease. So we
start off with that criteria, letting them come in and
their guard is a little bit lowered because they're in
comfortable settings. And then we have the judges as I mentioned,
that take about five or ten minutes and really find

(07:39):
out about their service, their history, whether they in Vietnam,
whether they in Iraq or Afghanistan, and so I can assimilate,
I could I can attest to the things that they're
doing on a regular basis, because these veterans, they're proud,
they're not asking for a handout, but they don't mind
when you ask them questions to share their history and

(08:00):
their background, and that really puts them at ease.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Can you give out the information one more time for
where veterans can go to register, what the deadline is,
and just everything people need to know if they want
to take advantage of this.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Sure, sure, So this is important. This registration deadline is
this month October, October twenty second, so we only have
a couple of weeks to get the registration in and
you have to go to hillsclerk dot com hi lsclerk
dot com, so please get on there and register. The
event is going to be November seventh, Friday, November seventh.
It's at the Temple Terrace, VA on eight four five

(08:33):
to one North Temple Terrace Highway, so that's where we
will be conducted. But we need all the veterans to register.
So if you have a brother, an uncle, a sister,
a husband or wife that's a veteran and you think
they may have some infractions that we can help them out,
please refer them so they can register so we can
help them out.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
Hailesborough, Serga, Judge Darryl Manning, thank you so much for
coming in today and thank you for setting up this
wonderful program. I know that a lot of veterans certainly
do appreciate it. Delighted to have in studio this morning,
the Ryan.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
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Speaker 1 (09:06):
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