Call to Order:

Eric Zimmerman opened the meeting at 11:15 a.m.

Attending:

Secretary’s Report:

Allison moved to accept the March minutes. Bill seconded, all were in favor. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report:

Greg passed out the Treasurer's Report. The report reflects the balance of the checking account as $5,647.46 and savings as $22,334.31. Total assets at this time are $29,118.76. Greg reports that all bills are paid at this time. Tim moves to accept the Treasurer's Report. Laird seconded, all were in favor. Motion carried.

Membership:

Lori reports that there are currently 815 active members and that there are many renewals that are late. Additionally, she reports that many people are logging onto the website and submitting their email addresses to have monthly minutes emailed to them instead of sent via mail. Anyone interested in receiving POPAI minutes via email instead of a paper copy mailed to them can log onto www.gopopai.org and submit their email address.

Education:

Cherie reports that she and Susan had a telephone conference last Friday to discuss the POPAI Annual Conference and reports that planning is going well. Cherie reports that Chuck Jackson has been confirmed as the keynote speaker. Eric reports that he confirmed John Giles from the Office of Victims of Crime (free of charge).

Awards and Recognition:

Laird reports that eight applicants were interviewed for the scholarship. The committee puts their recommendation in front of the Board. Laird moved to accept the recommended applicant as the recipient. Greg seconded, all were in favor. Motion carried. Laird reports that the Founder’s Award Application will go out in next month’s minutes.

Corporate Membership:

No report.

Legislation:

Eric provided an update on SB 506. The Senate Version of SB 506 went into a House Hearing in front of the Local Government Committee where an amendment was added that if not enough money was collected in user and/or administrative fees that the salary increase would not have to be paid. The first reading of this bill in the House was passed. During the second reading, an amendment was introduced to delay the salary increases until 2005. This amendment was defeated. A second amendment was introduced to change wording to "must" comply with the minimum salary guidelines to "may". This amendment was also defeated. At the third reading, the bill was passed. SB 506 is currently in Conference Committee. Eric noted that April 29, 2003, is the last day of legislation. The Indiana Judicial Center has proposed four (4) possible compromises in lieu of the current amendment to the bill. Those include the following:

Probation/Judicial Position re: compromises to SB 506 (In order of ability to compromise!)
1. Keep the Senate version of the bill (with the technical House amendments) (not a realistic "compromise").
2. Put language in the bill that the new Administration Fee must be used first to fund the salary increases required by the minimum salary schedule, effective January 1, 2004. This stipulation would be transitional in nature – would only be required through December 31, 2005.
3. Amend the bill to allow the Administration Fee to deposited in the County General Fund with a stipulation that it be used first to fund the salary increases required by the minimum salary schedule, effective January 1, 2004. Any remaining funds from this deposit would then be earmarked to the benefit of the probation department.
4. Amend the bill to allow the Administration Fee to be deposited in the County General Fund with a stipulation that it be used for the benefit of the probation department.

Ultimately, we need to try and get the counties to agree not to go after the authority of the Judicial Conference – but that we need to mutually seek state funding of probation departments.

Bill motioned to allow Eric and/or Board to use compromises 2, 3, or 4. Allison seconds. Greg motioned to amend the motion to include amending the compromise as necessary (i.e. County can have all of the Administrative Fees collected as long as the minimum salaries are met). All in favor. Motion carried. Allison motioned to give the Simmons Group a bonus for all of their hard work during the last year. Bill seconded. Motion tabled until next meeting.

Election:

Jennifer reports that the Intent to Run Form will be included with this month’s minutes. Members are encouraged to consider becoming part of the POPAI Executive Board! The positions available will be Vice President, Treasurer, and Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7. All forms are to be postmarked no later than June 2, 2003.

Technology:

The new POPAI website is up and running. The "members only" sections are currently available for the public to view. Visit the POPAI website at www.gopopai.org and remember to sign up to have your minutes emailed to you!

Merchandise:

Melody reports that she will bring the merchandise to the Annual Conference on May 8 and 9, 2003.

Old Business:

A discussion of the incentive schedule for Executive Board members and results of the survey from the Chief ‘s Summit will be tabled until next month.

New Business:

None.

Next meeting will be held on May 8, 2003, at 11 a.m. at the Indiana Convention Center.



Please take note of some important information regarding commonly asked questions:

The 2004 Salary Schedule has already been adopted by the Judicial Conference and will take effect January 1, 2004, regardless of the outcome of SB 506.

Yearly raises granted with the salary scheduled will be the same at state "judicial" employees, which is not the same as other state employees (i.e. DFC, DOC, etc.). Judicial employees have received raises during the past several years.