A reporter from Magnolia Tribune sat in on a morning of hearings in Madison County Youth Court where Judge Staci O’Neal presides, the newspaper reported. Legislation passed during a recent special session set a presumptively open-court standard while allowing judges to close proceedings when necessary, Magnolia Tribune reported.
Magnolia Tribune said O’Neal was sworn in as Madison County court judge in January 2017 and serves as one of two youth court judges in the county as well as the juvenile drug court judge. The newspaper reported that Mississippi youth courts have jurisdiction over delinquent acts, abuse or neglect, unruly children, involuntary committals, termination of parental rights and some child support and paternity matters.
From the start of proceedings until a midday break, O’Neal heard more than half a dozen cases, Magnolia Tribune reported. Photography, video and other recording equipment are not allowed in the courtroom, the reporter said. Cases ranged from efforts to place children with relatives to requests to reunify children with parents and school-related delinquency matters.
In one hearing, four children under their grandmother’s care told the judge they were excited to return to school and that therapy was going well, Magnolia Tribune reported. Court testimony indicated child protective services was working to allow the grandmother to adopt the children. In another case, the mother of three children in foster care told the court she now has steady work and has completed drug screenings, therapy and money management training; Magnolia Tribune reported the judge approved a 90-day trial home placement as part of a reunification plan.
Other cases involved teens in state custody. In one matter, testimony showed a younger adolescent on the autism spectrum and diagnosed with ADHD was living in a group home and was likely to remain in custody until age 21 unless an adoptive family or sibling stepped forward, Magnolia Tribune reported. Judge O’Neal told that teen, “I’m very proud you skipped the 7th grade and got to go to the 8th grade,” the newspaper reported. In a separate case, prosecutors and CPS told the court a teen apparently abandoned by both parents has been in state custody since 2024; Magnolia Tribune reported CPS asked to stop efforts to contact the birth parents but O’Neal denied the motion and instructed CPS to continue outreach.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
