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The State Attorney’s Office held its annual volunteer recognition ceremony recently to thank volunteers from Clay, Duval and Nassau counties.
For more than 30 years, the State Attorney’s office has utilized volunteers to conduct mediation and arbitration hearings. In recent years the number of volunteers in the State Attorney’s Office has expanded dramatically with the addition of mentors, victim impact panel members and youth and adults giving their time to the teen court program.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Jay Plotkin thanked the more than 100 volunteers and their families in attendance.
“On behalf of the entire State Attorney’s Office we thank you for your dedicated service to the citizens of Northeast Florida,” said Plotkin. “It would not be possible to provide the services to residents of the Fourth Judicial Circuit without your time and talent. We are indeed fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteers in our community.”
This year, in addition to the customary awards, longtime volunteer Les Smith was named a Grand Master in recognition of his 20 years of volunteer service to the State Attorney’s Office.
The State Attorney’s Youth Volunteer of the Year went to teen court volunteers John Riddell and Rick Aasen. Riddell will be a junior at Paxon School for Advanced Studies this fall. He has volunteered in the teen court program since 2006 and was on the Mock Trial Team. Aasen, also a junior at Paxon, is active in various school clubs and associations. He was also on the Mock Trial Team sponsored by the State Attorney’s Office.
The Volunteer Teen Court Magistrate Award this year was presented to Gilbert “Gil” Wright, a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School who is in private practice in Jacksonville and has volunteered his time as a magistrate in the teen court program since 2002.
This year’s Mentor of the Year award went to John Cowling, who has made an extraordinary difference in the life of a young man who was incarcerated in the Duval County Jail. Cowling’s mentee — who has now been released — is working full time, engaged to be married and gives much of the credit for his turnaround to his mentor.
The Special Community Service Award was presented to Dr. Mary Baron, a professor of English at the University of North Florida who has worked passionately as a creative writing specialist in the Art in Jail Program through the Cultural Council.
The Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Mary Terbrueggen, who retired from Blue Cross/ Blue Shield in 2004. She has volunteered in the State Attorney’s Office since 2004 as a hearing officer assisting in juvenile and adult cases.
Earlier this year long time State Attorney employee James E. “Jimmy” Patrick died. Patrick, who was a quadriplegic, served as the director of the State Attorney’s Restitution Enforcement Program and assisted in volunteer recruitment, training and management. In honor of his service to the community and the State Attorney’s Office an award was renamed in his memory.
The first annual James E. Patrick Sustained Exemplary Performance Award was presented to Rosemary Travis, a 25-five year volunteer in the State Attorney’s Office. Travis is a remarkable person who currently works for Naval Sea Logistics Center, Fleet Support Office. She volunteers as a hearing officer in the Citizen Dispute Resolution and Youth Offender programs.