WILMINGTON — It’s been just under six months since the former district attorney’s Community Justice Center opened in the Harrelson Center and it is already planning on taking on more responsibility.
READ MORE: DA hopes community justice center is government-funded after year three, board members announced
Ben David, New Hanover County district attorney turned chief legal counsel at the CJC, showed Port City Daily updates Friday. This includes a request to the county for increased security as the center also prepares for increasing intake.
The New Hanover County CJC co-locate prosecutors, law enforcement and nonprofit workers at the Harrelson Center with the goal of providing victims of domestic violence and youth involved in violence with easier access to services. This includes counseling, obtaining protective orders, filing police reports, all of which will be offered 24/7 (the hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with agencies allowed 24/7 access for emergencies).
On Friday, David said there is a new addition to the team — Suann Bechtel, who ran the family court division in New Hanover County for 40 years before retiring around the same time as Daivd, in August 2024. David told PCD he asked Bechtel to come out of retirement to consult on family matters at the CJC. She is charged with bridging the gap between guests and family law prosecutors, walking them through custody and separation processes, and connecting them to family-oriented resources, such as Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear, also in the Harrelson Center.
“From what I understand, there are about 25 cases on any given week that are more in the nature of family issues, whether they are that eviction notice, or they’re the custody issue, or they’re domestic violence, or a combination of all three,” David said.
The former DA explained some victims come in seeking a domestic violence protective order, even when they may not be experiencing violence, because they need help disentangling with a partner that presents other dangers. Additionally, if someone at the CJC or social workers in the field suspect child abuse, they are required to take action, which often leaves parents, typically mothers, asking what their options are to retain custody of their children.
That’s where the CJC can come in to help grant protective orders to aid in the separation process from a dangerous partner. It can also serve a space to connect a victim with nonprofits for assistance outside the legal system.
“Justice is going to look different for a criminal case versus a civil case or a family case,” David said. “But the very first thing, and the reason we’re across the street from the courthouse, is we’re assessing where in the justice system does this case belong?”
Now, the court system has asked the CJC to level up that challenge.
David told PCD he was approached by the clerk of court, Jan Kennedy, along with Chief District Court Judge Jay Corpening (also a CJC board member) and District Attorney Jason Smith requesting the CJC take over the domestic violence protective orders process coinciding with the launch of eCourts, an online operations system for the North Carolina Judicial Branch.
Currently, these orders are being filed at the courthouse, which sees an average of 50 people a week, the CJC is now looking to absorb into its operations. Now with eCourts, being at the courthouse isn’t needed; filers can submit their protective orders online and virtually meet with a judge to go over it and receive a determination. David said time slots at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. will be set aside each day for judges to virtually review cases.
This is different from David’s vision put forth in the application to the New Hanover Community Endowment, which stated a magistrate would be able to grant protective orders at any time for people at the CJC.
Though David wouldn’t share how many people seeking protective orders come through the CJC now, he said the clerk’s request would mean a higher volume and would therefore require more resources.
David said it also meant being “a little bit more like the courthouse,” including the need for an extra clerk and security.
According to a letter, obtained by Port City Daily last week, David wrote to Sheriff Ed McMahon explaining the need for a bailiff, which would be funded through the NHCSO, and deputy clerk, which would come from the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. David ended the letter welcoming the opportunity to meet with county officials to advocate for the “necessary resources.”
He told PCD he hadn’t had any conversations with the AOC, NHCSO or the county yet about funding the additional positions.
Deputy Chief Jonathan Hart described the move as “sudden” in an email to county staff on Jan. 25. PCD asked the sheriff’s office for its stance on obliging David’s request; spokesperson Lt. Jerry Brewer replied the sheriff does not comment on budget requests.
“If a position is granted, he will discuss that after it’s been fulfilled,” Brewer said.
Any increase to the NHCSO’s budget would come from the New Hanover County commissioners; however, and county staff have already been chattering about the letter, which the sheriff forwarded to county leadership.
“I’m not sure how security at the CJC became the county’s role . . .” county manager Chris Coudriet wrote in an email to NHC Chief Financial Officer on Jan. 27.
The Community Justice Center is supported by two three-year grants from the New Hanover Community Endowment: the Harrelson Center received $1.5 million to renovate for the CJC and the DA’s office received $3.4 million, of which $2.5 million went toward eight positions to work under the DA’s office.
In an interview with PCD in January 2024, David said he envisioned the eight prosecutorial positions to eventually be picked up in the state budget. He believed after the CJC demonstrated its impact on crime and victim outcomes in the area, state officials would see the positions as necessary. All other positions from the nonprofits, Novant and the WPD are funded by their respective organizations.
PCD reached out to the county for its stance on funding the additional position through the NHCSO. Spokesperson Alex Riley said subsequent to David’s letter, the county “was informed that additional personnel for FY25 were not necessary, but may need to be considered for FY26.”
David said CJC is on a pretty tight budget with the endowment grant and would have to work with NHCSO to find out if existing staff can help in the interim.
Port City Daily asked David why he didn’t anticipate security positions in his grant application.
“We didn’t have eCourts at the time or contemplated that we were going to be taking all this extra volume,” David said.
Mandy Houvouras, direct services/outreach director at the Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, said the CJC is beginning to see more survivors seek services there, noting with the transition to handling the protective order filings will “drastically increase” the number. No safety issues have been presented thus far, though it remained top of mind for the protective order transition.
The goal is to strike a balance between keeping guests safe while also creating a welcoming atmosphere. David said he doesn’t want too heavy of a law enforcement presence, which could be a deterrent to some people seeking services, so the CJC is using a variety of methods to create as much of a cocoon as possible.
For example, to enter the CJC, you have to first approach a desk clerk, seated behind a glass vestibule, before they unlock the door to allow entry Cameras have been situated in every public space and intake room, which also allows other CJC staff to take down details of victim stories when a victim tells it to one staff member, without having to physically be present in the room, though this is done at the victim’s consent.
Staff also have the ability to escort victims from nearby parking areas or the courthouse next door into the CJC.
David said this will be particularly required for men trying to enter the CJC. He said he didn’t want to discredit men’s susceptibility to being victims of domestic violence, but said he has seen many times where abusers attempt to file retaliatory protective measures of their own or follow their victims into the courthouse. Staff will screen men outside before walking them over if they are expected to be an abuser.
The CJC team is in the process of building up what David called a “volunteer army” to help with escorts into the CJC and also entertain kids who may be in tow.
Prosecutors, area nonprofits — Rape Crisis Center, Carousel Center, and Domestic Violence Shelter and Services — and a nurse from Novant available on site Friday.
Though the center is intended to operate 24/7, the DA has stated staff will not be present, sitting in an office, at all hours of the night. Instead, organizations are sometimes operating via an on-call basis, with nonprofits having crisis lines open outside of business hours, as always.
Houvouras told PCD in an ideal world, DVSS would have an advocate at the CJC full-time.
“However, DVSS staff is also serving survivors at The Open Gate, in the emergency shelter, in the courtroom, and out in the community,” she said. “Additional funding for advocacy would be greatly beneficial to allow for more coverage and the highest level of care for survivors.”
[Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article noted Bechtel was an attorney, though she is not. PCD regrets the error.]
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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