Judge Chris Hazlett-Stevens confirmed Wednesday that Community Court would cease operations at the end of the month.
He told KUNR it struggled with a low success rate, noting it was difficult to get chronically homeless clients to accept services like substance use recovery and mental health care.
“Community court wasn’t necessarily the answer, and that’s really unfortunate to say and voice out loud,” Hazlett-Stevens said.
Community Court is a special program of the Reno Municipal Court meant to serve unhoused people charged with low-level crimes. For nearly five years, it held hearings in the Downtown Reno Library, with a collection of service providers on hand to connect clients with housing support, Medicaid, and more.
According to court data, just over a third of cases were successfully discharged last year. In terms of raw numbers, however, the program served 483 people — more than triple the amount served by all the other specialty courts combined.
But Hazlett-Stevens said it still fell short when it came to getting chronically homeless people, the population he most wanted to serve, off the street.
“The resistance is palpable,” he explained. “It’s hard to overcome that.”
Hazlett-Stevens broke the news to staff during a morning meeting. Court intern Kenyon Moore was there, and said he was sad to hear the program was ending.
“I think that taking away the community court will not necessarily help the homeless population at all,” he said.
As of this week, Community Court will no longer accept new cases. Instead, staff will focus on clearing the docket and transferring existing cases to other venues.
