Community Court Professional Staff

Judge Michael A. Coffey, born in Austin, is the fulltime judge at the Downtown Austin Community Court (DACC). Judge Coffey took over the court fulltime in December 2002 when Judge Elizabeth Earle, the first permanent judge at the DACC, resigned to take over as judge in Travis County Court at Law Seven. Judge Coffey attended the University of Texas, Southwest Texas State University and Texas Tech University respectively, for bachelors' (economics & finance), masters (counseling) and doctor of jurisprudence (law) degrees. Judge Coffey is a certified public accountant, and prior to law school, worked in financial accounting and tax law for six years. Out of law school, he worked as a prosecutor in Williamson County for three years, and then practiced as a criminal defense attorney in Travis and Williamson counties for eight years, including a two year stint at the Travis County Juvenile Public Defender's Office, before taking the bench as an associate municipal court judge. The judge lives and works in Austin and plays softball wherever he happens to be.

Peter Valdez, LMSW, Acting Court Administrator is in charge of court operations, including supervision of both the rehab and clerical teams. Peter moved to Austin, in the Fall of 2000, from Las Cruces, New Mexico where he worked as a child/adolescent and crisis therapist in a community mental health agency. While in Las Cruces, Peter also facilitated court-mandated men's groups with La Casa, Inc., a program for domestic violence victims and their families. While pursuing his masters degree at New Mexico State University, Peter worked as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Counselor, interned with the Las Cruces Public Schools Character Building Program as a counselor for youth at-risk, and worked as a graduate assistant for New Mexico State University's Athletic Academic Program as a mentor/counselor for student-athletes. Peter is a licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW), is CPR certified and was also a part of the Dona Ana County Critical Incident Stress Management Team in New Mexico. Peter continues to facilitate domestic violence prevention groups to court-mandated individuals for the Austin Stress Clinic. Peter is also the program administrator and instructor for the Community Court’s Alcohol Education Program for Minors, and the field instructor and supervisor for the Community Court’s student interns from the University of Texas-Austin, St. Edwards University, and Texas State University. Peter is a current member of the Texas Municipal Courts Association, Texas Court Clerks Association, and the National Association for Court Management, the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) and the City of Austin International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Hispanic Network. Peter has also served as a member of the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) Latino Advisory Council and the National Council of La Raza.

John Wall, has been the prosecutor in Community Court since the second year of the court's operation. He graduated from University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Psychology. Attend Texas Tech Law School where he received a Doctor of Jurisprudence. He had a private practice prior to coming to work at the Court.

Eddie Fincher, Case Manager, has managed the Community Service Restitution Program since the Downtown Austin Community Court opened its doors on October 1, 1999. Graduate of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. Certified: Texas Drug and Alcohol Awareness Program Administrator and Instructor, Crisis Negotiator, Post Trauma Instructor and Emergency Shelter Manager. Elected to the City Manager’s Employee Committee on Workforce Issues, 2005-2006 & 2006-2007. Member of the City Manager’s Childcare Task Force 2006. Received Public Service Recognition Award in 2004 & 2007. Named Outstanding Public Sector Partner of the Year in 2006. Prior to working for the court he was employed with Texas Department of Criminal Justice for over 10 years working in three different divisions: Ellis I Unit-Death Row-Institutional Division, Internal Affairs Division-Headquarters and the State Jail Division-Headquarters at the State Capital Complex.

John Lawyer, M.A.C., LPC, joined the court staff in August 2005, replacing Andrea Valenti. John had served for nearly a year as a case manager intern with the DACC while working on his permanent state of Texas license as a counselor. He graduated from St. Edward’s University in Austin in 2004 with a Master of Arts degree in Counseling after working in project management and executive positions for 25 years in publishing. In addition to some continuing case management duties with the court, John is responsible for coordinating services on behalf of court clients in the areas of mental health, housing, employment, and substance abuse treatment. He also handles communications with the public and with outside agencies on behalf of DACC.

Luz Lozano, is the Comunity Court's computer programmer. He graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science from Texas State University. Before coming to the court he formerly worked for a Nasa subcontractor and a Dot-Com startup. His work entails generating Ad-Hoc querys for the court, updating the Downtown Austin Comunity Court System, and keeping it up and running.

City Marshals

The City Marshals are playing a critical role in the overall success of the court in many ways. For peace officers, encouraging offenders to appear in court and stay in treatment is a new role that they have taken on quite well. The court has also received positive feedback in how firm; yet concerned the Marshals are when serving warrants, to those offenders who do not comply with court orders.

Community Service Restitution:

Andy Schuessler, Crew Leader. Andy has been with the community court since 2006 and serves as a senior member of the Community Service program. In addition to assisting with special projects, Andy maintains right-of-way medians on Austin's west side. Andy is a native Austinite and an expert on the area.

Raphael "Brett" Sullivan, Crew Leader. Brett has been a crew leader for the Downtown Austin Community Service program since 2008. In addition to assisting with special projects, Brett has focused on graffiti abatement around the City of Austin. Brett works closely with the Health & Human Services department to handle 311 complaint calls that are related to graffiti. Before becoming a part of the DACC, Brett worked for the City of Austin Water Utility as a pipeline technician. Brett has been a resident of the City of Austin since 1995, is a father of one, and enjoys all sports from little league to the pro level. "Be positive, recognize negativity, and get away from it. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready."

William (Bill) Cities, Crew Leader. Bill has been working for the Community Court since March 2008 and has been a resident of Austin for just as long. Bill is originally from Ohio, and is currently pursuing a degree in Culinary Arts at the Texas Culinary Academy. Before joining the Community Court, Bill served 7 years in the US Army.

Jeremy R. Meyers, Crew Leader. Jeremy has served the City of Austin as a Community Court Crew Leader since January 2007. Jeremy is currently responsible for maintaining over 30 properties in East Austin. In addition, Jeremy maintains a close relationship with Code Enforcement and APD with a focus on preserving and maintaining the downtown area. Before joining the Community Court, Jeremy proudly severed for 4 years in the USMC. Jeremy has a wife & three kids and enjoys sports, hunting, fishing, camping and spending time with his family.



COMMUNITY COURT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

The Downtown Austin Community Court Advisory Committee advises the Downtown Austin Community Court on policy and operational issues. The Advisory Committee is composed of 13 members appointed by the city council, including members who are representatives of downtown businesses, public service community entities and neighborhoods within the jurisdiction of the court as well as other stakeholders in community and restorative justice. This eclectic group plays a valuable role in defining and deliberating issues to enhance the quality of court services and needs. The Advisory Committee meets once every two months. The meetings are held at City Hall, in the Boards and Commissions Room, typically from 7:30 A.M. until 9:00 A.M. on the third Wednesday of those months scheduled for meetings.

Meeting Notices are both posted at City Hall and published in the City of Austin Web Site at www.ci.austin.tx.us. Click on the link to go to City Connections, where you will find the Connection Calendar, listing all meetings of City of Austin boards and commissions. Downtown Community Court staff post the meeting notice for its Advisory Committee at least five working days prior to each meeting. You may also contact John Lawyer, Downtown Austin Community Court Resource Coordinator, at 512-974-4878 with any questions about meetings of the Advisory Committee.