NACM Board Biographies

President Suzanne H. Stinson

     Suzanne H. Stinson is Court Administrator for the 26th Judicial District Court of Bossier and Webster Parishes in Benton, Louisiana, where she has been employed since 1982.

Suzanne graduated magna cum laude from Louisiana Tech University and has a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Arts degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University. She is a 2007 Graduate Fellow of the Institute for Court Management (ICM) of the National Center for State Courts. She served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from 1979 to 1982.

She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and is past president of the Louisiana Court Administrators Association. She was appointed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to serve on the Board of Examiners of Certified Shorthand Reporters. She is a member of the American Judicature Society, Forum for Advancement of Court Technology, NCSC Knowledge and Information Systems Advisory Committee and ICM Advisory Council. Suzanne was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to serve on the State Court Rules Committee, Advisory Committee to the Performance Audit on Jury Practices, Disaster Recovery Planning Committee and the Louisiana Integrated Juvenile Justice Information System Committee. She also currently serves on committees for the Bossier Parish Truancy Assessment Center and the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. She is a member of the Bossier City Mayor’s Women’s Commission, Junior League of Shreveport/Bossier City, past president of the Benton Rotary Club and is a 2007 and 2009 Athena Award Nominee.

President Elect Jude Del Preore

    Jude Del Preore is Court Administrator in Burlington County, New Jersey. Mr. Del Preore is responsible for managing and coordinating the operations of a judicial district, including financial management, human resources, information systems, case coordination, case flow management, probation services (including child support enforcement), jury utilization, facilities, equipment, maintenance, records management and statistical analysis. Responsibilities also include implementing major policies and decisions relating to the court, directing research and the preparation of detailed reports and memoranda, as well as supervising and/or staffing various committees relating to the Judiciary. Mr. Del Preore has been in the field of both court and corrections administration for over thirty years. During this period, he has maintained executive level positions in both court administration and the probation service. Additionally, Mr. Del Preore has served on numerous judicial and legislative subcommittees, planning groups and advisory boards. He is a certified trainer and has served as an adjunct faculty member at Seton Hall Law School, two county colleges, the New Jersey State Police Academy, several county police academies and the New Jersey State Administrative Office of the Courts Training and Organizational Development Unit. Mr. Del Preore completed his undergraduate education at Rutgers University and a Master's degree program in Public Administration at Kean University. He has completed the Court Executive Development Program of the National Center for State CourtsInstitute for Court Management and is certified as a Fellow. Mr. Del Preore has published several articles in the area of volunteer management. He was a contributing author to the American Correctional Associations treatise on the use of intermediate sanctions. Most recently, he contributed to Washington D.C.’s Center for Community Corrections series on creating the “Community Connection.”He has delivered training programs on visionary leadership, executive decision-making, staff motivation and customer service in a government setting. For his outstanding achievements in the field, he has been recognized in Who’s Who in the East and Who’s Who in Law Enforcement. He has also served as president of the Mid-Atlantic Association For Court Management and was recently designated to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Court Management in the capacity of Urban Court Director.

Vice President Kevin J. Bowling

    Kevin J. Bowling, JD, MSJA is the Trial Court Administrator and Attorney Referee for the 20th Judicial Circuit Court and the Ottawa County Probate Court in Ottawa County, Michigan. His work in the judicial system spans 27 years with time spent as a court manager, an attorney, a judicial educator and a court consultant, including service in western Africa as Deputy Chief of Party for the Nigeria Justice Sector Assistance Project. Mr. Bowling also served in a variety of positions with the Michigan Supreme Court for 20 years, including as the State Judicial Educator and as a Regional Court Administrator. Other Michigan service included Staff Administrator for the Legislative Commission on Courts (a joint Commission of the Michigan House and Senate Judiciary Committees). Additional Court experience includes internships with the Denver Juvenile Court and the North Dakota Supreme Court. Mr. Bowling received his B.A. in Political Science/Public Administration from Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island; a M.S. in Judicial Administration from the University of Denver College of Law; and a J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the National Association of State Judicial Educators, the American Judicature Society, and the Ottawa County Bar Association. Mr. Bowling has served on the Board of Directors, National Association of State Judicial Educators; the Advisory Board of the Leadership Institute in Judicial Education, University of Memphis; the Advisory Board, National Judicial College - Courage to Live Program; and the Technology Law Advisory Board, Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Mr. Bowling is also a trained mediator and serves on the Board of Directors of the Ottawa/Allegan Center for Dispute Resolution. In addition to his service on the NACM Board of Directors as the General Jurisdiction Director, he is the Vice President of the Michigan Association of Circuit Court Administrators.  

Secretary/Treasurer Pamela Q. Harris

    Pamela Q. Harris has held the Court Administrator position for the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland since 1989. Montgomery County is located directly north of Washington, D.C. and is the most populous jurisdiction in Maryland. 

She is a Fellow of the Institute for Court Management and currently serves as Member of the Maryland Conference of Circuit Court Judges; Member of the Maryland Technology Oversight Board; Member, Maryland Integrated Statewide Case Management Committee.

She is active internationally with rule of law initiatives and currently serves on the board of the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium (RAROLC); the board of the Maryland International Coordinating Council, Inc., and as Co-Chair of the Maryland-Leningrad Steering Committee. She also serves on the Maryland Sister States Program Legal Affairs Committee.

She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Court Managers (NACM) as their elected Large Court Director and currently functions as Chair of the Code of Ethics Committee and Chair of the Membership Committee. In the past, she has served NACM on the Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC), Publications Committee, and Joint International Committee. She is also a member of the Urban Court Manager’s Network.

She has held executive board positions in the Mid-Atlantic Association of Court Management (MAACM), an organization committed to the fair and effective administration of justice through improved management of courts. She also has worked extensively in the field of differentiated case management and court administration both nationally and internationally.

Immediate Past President Marcus W. Reinkensmeyer

    Marcus W. Reinkensmeyer is the Court Administrator for the Judicial Branch of Arizona in Maricopa County (Phoenix), serving a jurisdiction of 3.85 million residents. Previously, he served as Superior Court Administrator, Chief Deputy Court Administrator and Director of Judicial Information Systems (JIS), Superior Court in Maricopa County. Prior to moving to Arizona in 1991, Mr. Reinkensmeyer served as Assistant Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (Court Services), Court Administrator (17th Judicial Circuit), Assistant Superintendent of Juvenile Detention and Probation Officer in the State of Illinois. Marcus holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Michigan State University Honors College, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University and is Graduate Fellow of the Institute for Court Management of the National Center for State Courts. He is the recipient of the Institute for Court Management’s Award of Merit (1989) and the Supreme Court of Arizona’s Distinguished Service Award (2003). Currently, Marcus is the President Elect of the National Association for Court Management (NACM), having previously served as Editor for The Court Manager. Mr. Reinkensmeyer has served as adjunct faculty for Arizona State University, College of Public Affairs, the Past President of the Arizona Courts Association and a consultant/presenter for state and local court improvement projects. His articles on court management have appeared in the Justice System Journal, Judicature, The Judges’ Journal, Government Computer News, The Court Manager, The Handbook on Court Management and Administration and The Improvement of the Administration of Justice. 

Large Court Director (2009-2012) William Simmons

    William (Will) Simmons is the District Court Administrator for the Sixth Judicial Administrative District, State of Georgia. The District is comprised of 14 counties and 19 Superior Court judges in West Central Georgia. Prior to his appointment to the Sixth District, he served as the Superior and State Court Administrator for the Clayton Judicial Circuit, and as Law Library Director for the Cobb County Superior Court.

Mr. Simmons is the current President of the Georgia Council of Court Administrators. In 2007, he was selected to 40 Under 40, Georgia's Best and Brightest by the Georgia Trend's Business and Politics Magazine. He is the Associate Dean for the Evening Program at Bauder College, where he has served as an adjunct faculty member since 2007.

Mr. Simmons serves on several boards, committees, and planning groups in both the judiciary and private sector. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his contributions to those organizations.

Mr. Simmons has been a member of NACM since 2003.

Small Court Director (2009-2012) Stephanie Hess

    Stephanie Hess is the Manager of the Case Management Section of the Supreme Court of Ohio, where she provides caseflow management support to courts of all jurisdiction types throughout the state of Ohio, which includes 719 judges in 382 courts. Ms. Hess also oversees the reporting and analysis of caseload statistical data and conducts caseflow management reviews and training for judges and court staff. Prior to joining the Supreme Court in 2006, Ms. Hess worked for the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, General Trial Division as a bailiff for 7 years and as the Director of Human Resources and Training for over 3 years.

Ms. Hess has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Professional Writing from Capital University and a Juris Doctorate from the Capital University Law School, both in Columbus, Ohio.

Ms. Hess is licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio as well as the United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio. She is currently a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the National Association for Court Management, the Ohio Association for Court Administration, the Ohio Association of Municipal / County Court Clerks and the Ohio Jury Management Association. Ms. Hess also serves as a faculty member for the National Center for State Court’s Institute for Court Management (ICM), and teaches Caseflow Management and CourTools for ICM’s Court Management Program in Ohio. Additionally, Ms. Hess serves as faculty for various Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College courses including orientation for new judges as well as courses for administrative judges and court administrators.

Elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Court Management as the Small Court Director in 2009, Ms. Hess has served on the membership, conference development, and planning committees. She is currently the chairperson of the 2010 Justice Achievement Award subcommittee.

Appointed Director (2008-2011) Peter Coolsen

    James Peter Coolsen, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and an M.S.W. from New York University, serves as Court Administrator for the Criminal Division, Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois. Peter is co-editor of Court Communiqué and serves on the NACM publications and conference planning committees. He is a graduate of the Court Executive Development Program, a Fellow of the Institute for Court Management, National Center for State Courts and the 2007 recipient of the Institute for Court Management’s Vice President’s Award of Merit for Applied Research.     

Elected Director (2008-2010) Virlynn Tinnell

    After previously serving on the NACM Board, in 2008 she was honored to again be elected to serve as the Elected Director on the NACM Board.  Virlynn is the elected Clerk of Superior Court of Mohave County in Arizona and also serves as the Probate Registrar. Mohave County has just over 200,000 residents and is 13,479 square miles. 

Virlynn has been employed for almost thirty years in the court system, serving the past ten as the elected Clerk. Prior to that she held various positions working in all areas of the court, from serving as a pro-tempore justice of the peace, working as a judicial assistant to the presiding judge, to working for the Administrative Office of the Courts. She has served on many committees, boards and planning groups and has held many offices in various groups both in the court system as well as in the community in which she resides.

Urban Director (2007-2010) David W. Slayton

    David W. Slayton is the Director of Court Administration for the Lubbock County, Texas, District Courts and County Courts at Law. He has served in that role since 2004 and has been employed by the judicial branch in various roles for over ten years. Previously, he served as Court Services Supervisor for the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, in Dallas, Texas, and as a trial court coordinator for the 99th District Court in Lubbock County. David earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Texas Tech University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy University. He is a 2007 Graduate Fellow of the Institute for Court Management, where he was chosen to deliver the commencement address on behalf of his class in the United States Supreme Court. David received the 2008 Distinguished Service Award from the National Center for State Courts. David has published an article entitled An Analysis of the Effective Use of Jurors in Lubbock County and was instrumental in the publication of the 2007 version of the National Association for Court Management’s Model Code of Conduct. He currently serves as the Urban Court Director on the National Association for Court Management’s Board of Directors and as the Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Texas Association for Drug Court Professionals. In addition to the aforementioned organizations, David is a member of the Texas Association for Court Administration, the National Association for Drug Court Professionals, and the American Judicature Society.

Rural Director (2007-2010) Linda Romero Soles

    Linda Romero Soles is an Assistant Executive Officer for the Stanislaus County Superior Court in Modesto, California. She has been with the Stanislaus Superior Court since December 1990. She first served as the Assistant Court Administrator for the Municipal Court and upon consolidation of the Municipal/Superior courts became the Chief Deputy Executive Officer. Prior to working at the Modesto Court, she worked at the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles for eleven years as the Director of Administrative Services. Linda holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from San Diego State University, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a certificate in Judicial Administration from the University of Southern California and is a Fellow of the Institute for Court Management, class of 2006. She was also the 2005 recipient of the ICM Fellowship Grant. She has also completed faculty development training for ICM. She has served on various California AOC related committees as well as faculty at AOC conferences. She has served as faculty at California State University Stanislaus. She is a member and has served on the board of the American Association of University Women, Turlock Branch. She was also the 1999 Education Fund Name Honoree. She has also served on the school board as member and Board Chair. Linda and her family live on a farm and in their spare time grow almonds and cherries.

General Jurisdiction Director (2008-2011) Michele Oken

    Michele Oken is a court administrator for the Interpreter Services Division, Los Angeles Superior Court, State of California. For the past two years, she has been responsible for overseeing the assignment and supervision of 400 court interpreters in more than 100 languages in 44 court locations. Prior to this assignment, she was a managing court reporter, assisting in the management of approximately 650 court reporters. Michele spent 22 years as an official court reporter for both municipal and superior courts in Los Angeles and was a board member and officer of local and state court reporting associations. She has been a member of the National Court Reporters Association since 1978.

Michele has been appointed by the executive officer of her court to serve on the following committees: liaison and regional chairperson to the Court Interpreter Employee Relations Committee, Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council of the State of California, addressing statewide interpreter issues; and liaison to the Limited English Proficiency Plan working group, Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council of the State of California.

Three years ago, Michele founded The Hope Connection, an auxiliary chapter of the City of Hope Medical Center, to raise money for cancer research, with a specific emphasis on pediatrics.

Michele joined NACM in 2006 and has served on the membership and conference committees as well as the 2008 annual conference social subcommittee. At the 2008 annual conference in Anaheim, she was elected to serve on the NACM board as the general jurisdiction director.

Limited Jurisdiction Director (2007-2010) Debra DeBerry

    Debra DeBerry is Chief Deputy Clerk for Dekalb County Superior Court Clerks Office. In addition, she serves on the Dekalb County Juvenile Court Citizen Review Panel. Ms.Deberry is a board member for RYDC (Regional Youth Detention Center) and also serves on the board of UYAC (United Youth Adult Conference). She is an advisor for WestCare of Georgia, and a proud member of NACM. Ms. DeBerry enjoys many varied family, community, social, and political activities.

At Large (1) Director (2008-2011) Carla Smith

    Carla Smith has held the position of Chief Deputy Judicial Administrator for the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court in New Orleans, Louisiana since 1998. She began her service to the justice system in 1978. She acts as a liaison to Judges as well as city and state agencies and has crafted and implemented a standardized case flow program, frequent special projects and handles public information issues and events. As the city of New Orleans is approaching the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the parish is comprised of 72% of its “pre-K” diverse population. There are 13 elected judges including 1 magistrate at the Criminal Court. There are 200 employees who work in the courts and various Court Intervention Services Departments. In the aftermath of Katrina, there was a statewide movement to reduce judicial officers targeting courts who experienced the disaster. Carla was responsible for justifying the need for maintaining the same level of judicial officers at the criminal court by engaging a team of experts to establish that a reduction of population does not indicate a proportionate reduction of caseload. Carla is the court’s Legislative Information Officer at each session of the Louisiana Legislature. She facilitates drafting of legislative bills affecting the judicial system and has secured annual funding for the court and developed innovative funding initiatives. She is the Executive Staff to the Consolidated Judicial Expense Fund Committee comprised of judges from the criminal, civil and juvenile courts mandated by the state legislature to plan for consolidation into the new 41st Judicial District Court in 2014. 

Carla is the Immediate Past President of the Louisiana Court Administrators Association and serves on the Committee for Louisiana District Judges Disaster Plan, the Louisiana Supreme Court Criminal Justice Task Force and the Justice Facility Master Plan Committee for the Orleans Parish Judicial System. Along with her membership and Board position with the National Association for Court Management, she is a member of the Conference of Court Public Information Officers and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. She is a Board Member for Armstrong Family Services and a past YWCA Role Model. In addition, Carla is a state licensed interior designer and oversees preservation and renovation of the Renaissance/Breaux Arts style criminal courthouse building.     

At Large Director (2009-2012) Paul DeLosh

    Paul F. DeLosh has held the Director of the Department of Judicial Services position for the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia since 2004. He first came to Court in 1991 where he served in the Department of Information Technology as well as the Department of Technical Assistance.

The Department of Judicial Services (DJS) serves as the liaison between the Judiciary’s administrative offices and the courts throughout Virginia, providing administrative services through publications, trainings, field visits, and the research and support of various programs. The Department serves 320 courts, 300 certified mediators, 100 certified interpreters and over 400 magistrates within the Commonwealth of Virginia through its seven divisions: Circuit Court Services, General District Court Services, Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Services, Dispute Resolution Services, Drug Treatment Court Services, Foreign Language Services and Magistrate Services.

Paul attended Boston College and Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Leadership. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Court Managers (NACM) as one of their At Large Directors as well as member of the Planning, Membership and Conference Development committees. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management (MAACM) and holds the position of Co-chair of their Communications Committee.

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