Working for Senate

Working with Nez Perce County Court Services in Lewiston

July 2007

When Nez Perce County Courts director John Triplett read about Larry LaRocco’s “Working for Senate” kickoff as a sanitation worker in Orofino, he knew he wanted to invite the candidate to spend a day learning about the myriad services under his agency’s umbrella.

Triplett made contact with LaRocco, who agreed it would be fascinating to learn about the county’s juvenile probation department, adult misdemeanor department, regional detention center, programs department, and a newly formed clinical department for substance abuse and domestic violence. The Nez Perce County Court Services supervises about 600 adult offenders and 150 juvenile offenders at any one time.

LaRocco started his day at 7:30 a.m., when Triplett gave him an overview of the programs. After sitting in on a staff meeting, LaRocco traveled to the juvenile detention center. There, he met a mix of first-time and repeat offenders. LaRocco also met a teacher who loves teaching at the detention center, and he learned how to do room inspections to find any contraband that might be destructive to the facility or its residents.

The candidate even had lunch with 12 of the incarcerated teens. “I treat these situations with a great deal of dignity,” LaRocco said. Rather than talk down to the teens – who were in trouble for reasons ranging from drug use to driving without a license to shoplifting – LaRocco said he tries to demonstrate “that someone cares about them and we’re on their team. What’s important is to learn from your mistakes.”

In the afternoon, LaRocco went on calls with adult and juvenile probation officers, learning how they use unannounced visits to be sure that parolees are living up to the terms of their court orders. “I saw some heartbreaking living situations,” he said. LaRocco, whose daughter is a social worker, noted that he also gained increased respect for the staff “who go to work every day and work with people to get their lives on a better track. … They’re very dedicated. I got to see that. It was a very interesting day.”