Representatives of the Coconino County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council told the Sedona City Council that community-focused deflection, diversion and problem-solving courts are central to the county's strategy for reducing repeat offending and improving outcomes for people who interact with the justice system.

Presiding Judge Ted Reed described a sequential-intercept approach designed to divert people from deeper court involvement at the earliest possible point, and to match the level of supervision and service to a person's assessed risk and need. "Our approach is called sequential intercept," Reed said, summarizing a framework that seeks to prevent people from moving downstream into more punitive and less rehabilitative stages of the system.

County Attorney Amon Barker and Legal Defender Joseph Carver walked the council through the criminal process from arrest to arraignment and sentencing and emphasized the human context that shapes plea and charging decisions. Barker stressed the system's complexity and the number of agencies involved, while Carver explained the pressure defendants face in plea decisions, especially under Arizona's mandatory-sentencing scheme.

The CJCC highlighted several operational programs:

- Hope Receiving Center: Flagstaff's juvenile holding area was renovated into a deflection and assessment site where families, schools or police can bring youth for immediate evaluation, short-term respite and connection to counseling or mentoring services instead of formal detention. The center includes 1:1 skill trainers and a staff model intended to calm crises and coordinate follow-up.

- Service dogs for schools: A deployed service dog paired with probation staff helps de-escalate youth incidents in schools and reduce law-enforcement referrals.

- Exodus (jail substance-use program): An in-custody treatment program that provides group and peer-based recovery supports. A recent graduate described reentry employment and family reunification after completing Exodus.

- Pathways/"hallway of opportunity": A reentry corridor inside the jail that connects people leaving custody with peer support, housing help, substance-use treatment and other community services.

- Treatment/problem-solving courts: The county described recovery (DUI/substance), mental-health, veterans and consolidated competency dockets and noted a probation revocation court, family-treatment and restitution programs. Judges who remain with a treatment court over time and integrated probation-treatment teams are important program elements.

CJCC director Diana Calandros said diversion metrics have improved over the last decade and cited an internal figure that roughly 200 families served by Hope Center services did not progress into the juvenile justice system, an outcome she described as a meaningful local effect. Council members asked whether Sedona courts could participate or replicate programs; presenters recommended an early conversation with Sedona's incoming magistrate and offered to share models and training resources.

Speakers (attributed): Presiding Judge Ted Reed; Amon Barker, Coconino County Attorney; Joseph Carver, legal defender; Diana Calandros, CJCC director.