The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, a national provider of training to and research on youth-related courts, has hired Mari Kay Bickett to be its executive director. Bickett officially takes the helm on April 1.
Bickett replaces Mary Mentaberry, who was executive director of the Reno, Nev.-based organization for six years.
A Nevada native, Bickett recently retired from a 16-year tenure as CEO of the Texas Center for the Judiciary, the organization that provides specialized judicial education and training for trial and appellate judges in Texas.
Prior to her work in Texas, Bickett was the academic director for the National Judicial College, which like NCJFCJ is based at the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) campus.
“I believe my career path has led me to the exact place where I’ve always wanted to work,” Bickett said in a statement issued by the council. “NCJFCJ has a depth of highly skilled and extremely dedicated staff.”
Mentaberry joined the council when it moved from Chicago to the UNR campus in 1969. She became its executive director in 2004, stepped down in September.
