Several staff members from Court Administration at the 17th Circuit attended the Administrative Services Training in Kissimmee, Florida. The training was sponsored by the Office of the State Courts Administrator and offered sessions about budget, finance and accounting, human resources, general and legal services. Discussions were also had about best practices throughout the judicial branch and trial courts.

Photographed here from left to right are Human Resources Manager Fred Cariano, Chief Deputy Court Administrator Diana Sobel, Accountant II Greissy Amorocho, General Counsel Patricia Judge-Lashley, Finance and Accounting Manager Gigi Garcia, and Trial Court Administrator Joseph M. D’Amico, Esq.

The Haitian American judges and magistrates of the 17th Circuit were honored at the Tet a Tet panel discussion in North Miami on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
At the event, Federal Magistrate Judge Peniota Agustin-Birch and Judges Florence Taylor Barner, Phoebee Francois, Danielle Sherriff, Fabienne E. Fahnestock, and Magistrate Yves Laventure participated on the panel and shared their experience with their career paths. All of the panelists were honored by the City of North Miami for their dedication to the Haitian American community with a proclamation.

The 17th Circuit’s Community Court was highlighted as part of a news story with CBS4 Miami on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

Featured in the story is the Task Force for Ending Homelessness, who partner with the Community Court for the City of Fort Lauderdale and help place local residents in secure housing.

For the full news story, click on the link below:
https://tinyurl.com/CommCourtHomeless

The 17 th Judicial Circuit’s Early Childhood Court (ECC) and Dependency Drug Court (DDC) attended the
All Sites Conference in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

At the conference, the circuit was represented by Dependency Judges, child welfare Dependency Case
Managers from Child Net, Children Legal Services Attorney, and Parent Attorneys, Guardian ad Litem
staff, ECC Coordinator, Juvenile Problem-Solving Court Coordinator, and treatment providers.

Photographed here from left to right are Raven Jordan, DDC Case Manager at ChildNet, Diane Rufus,
Division Manager at ChildNet, Judge Jose Izquierdo, Judge Hope Tieman Bristol, Dawseah Hunter, DDC
Supervisor at ChildNet, Jill Katz, ECC & DDC Attorney at Guardian ad Litem Office, Dr. Ziggie Jones,
Child Parent Psychotherapist at CMET, Wendy Buchanan, Drug Court Specialist at WestCare, Roxanne
Carrington, ECC Case Manager at ChildNet, Daynason Eugene, DDC Case Manager at ChildNet, Trent
Baker, Problem-Solving Court Program Coordinator, Ty Lee, ECC Case Manager at ChildNet, Leah
Gavin, DDC Case Manager at ChildNet, Terra Singletary, ECC Case Manager at ChildNet, Tiffany
Jackson, ECC Coordinator, Sherrelle Young, ECC Supervisor at ChildNet, Wendy Louis, GAL Supervisor
at Guardian ad Litem Office, Brittany Johnson, Managing Attorney at ORC-4, Matt Mandelkorn, Parent
Attorney at SPD, Sheila Gonsalves, Assistant Director at Guardian ad Litem Office, and Rebecca
Frieden, ECC Attorney at Children’s Legal Services.

Judge Christopher Wigand was sworn in at the 17th Circuit courthouse on Friday, May 17, 2024.

Swearing Judge Wigand in was Chief Judge Jack Tuter, who welcomed friends and family to be present during this significant event.

Judge Shari Africk-Olefson was the keynote speaker at the Solomon Leadership Program’s graduation on Thursday, May 9, 2024.
Judge Africk-Olefson is photographed here speaking to the students during the graduation with words of wisdom and encouragement towards their bright futures. Also pictured here is State Attorney Harold F. Pryor, who received an award for his mentorship with the program.