The City of Carrollton Municipal Court received the 2025 Municipal Traffic Safety Initiatives Award in April from the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center (TMCEC).

This is the fourth MTSI award Carrollton has won, and is given to medium-size courts serving populations from 30,001-149,999. The City initially won this award back-to-back in 2019 and 2020, and also won an Honorable Mention from MTSI in 2024.

The awards recognize a municipal court for outstanding accomplishments in the areas of traffic safety and impaired driving prevention and is part of TMCEC’s annual Municipal Traffic Safety Initiatives (MTSI) grant competition which is funded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

“We are extremely proud to have won this and the previous MTSI awards,” Presiding Carrollton Municipal Court Judge Meredith Lyon said. “Our court staff works diligently to educate the community on the dangers of impaired driving, and they have done a fantastic job of making sure the educational materials they provide are individually age appropriate for not only the children but also the parents.”

The team focused on outreach to youth with an emphasis on providing families educational tools in English and in Spanish to facilitate meaningful traffic safety conversations at home. The goal was to inspire positive change and encourage citizens to think about their choices and commit to practicing safe, healthy habits.

MTSI applicants are judged on the innovativeness of the organization’s activities and offerings that relate to increasing traffic safety while preventing impaired driving, traffic crashes and fatalities, juvenile DUI, child safety seat offenses, red light running, and other traffic related violations.

“Growing a safer community is a group effort,” Juvenile Case Manager Kristen Conner said. “It is imperative everyone understands their role is important. Providing families with the tools to succeed in speaking to their children about drugs, alcohol, and traffic safety is a deeply satisfying service, one in which Carrollton’s Traffic Safety Team feels very fortunate to be able to offer free of charge.”

The large amount of free information available from TMCEC, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Center for Safe Routes to School, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the 2Young2Drink initiative through the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC), TxDOT, and Municipal Courts campaign promotional items enable the team to distribute free quality materials at numerous local venues for a maximum impact with a minimum expense.

Municipal Court’s partnerships in 2024 with other City of Carrollton departments and Carrolton Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD) proved an invaluable aid to the traffic team’s efforts and enabled the message to reach Carrollton residents at local schools and various City events.

At Carrollton’s Future Public Employee Day in August, the team converted a courtroom into a traffic safety simulation, engaging with employees and kids about traffic, bicycle, and walking safety as kids navigated the traffic course. The kids were quizzed on traffic signs at two different intersections along the course before arriving at the prize table. School supplies, reflective zipper pulls, pencil bags, and academic planners were given. Young kids received a traffic safety coloring book, and middle schoolers received a notebook with alcohol facts, and flyers with drug, alcohol, and tobacco dangers.

Working with Carrollton Parks & Recreation Department in October, the team reached more than 1,200 people at the annual Perry Pumpkin Patch & Craft Fair by handing out information and reflective zipper pull tags to bring home the importance of wearing bright, reflective clothing when trick-or-treating.

During Municipal Courts Week in November, the traffic team kept a table stocked in the court’s lobby area with free materials for all ages, including pocket Constitutions, TxDOT booklets in English and Spanish with DWI and underage drinking laws, 911 lifeline law pamphlets, drug and alcohol fact sheets, and coloring books. Defendants and court visitors were encouraged to take material home. The team spoke about the roles of Court clerks and traffic safety and encouraged families to talk to their kids.

In December, the traffic team ended the year with Carrollton’s Santa on the Square, a very popular family-friendly event and Christmas tree-lighting followed by a 175-drone light show. The team focused on bike and helmet safety, since it’s the perfect time to request a new bike or hoverboard from Santa, and provided reflective stickers for helmets, bike-safety sticker books, helmet and safety pad fitting tips for parents in English and Spanish, and other winter goodies to everyone who attended.

“Municipal Court’s Traffic Safety Team works tirelessly at these events to increase awareness of the negative effects drugs and alcohol have on a person’s motor skills and cognitive decision-making ability, and believe their efforts have a lasting impact on the community,” Carrollton Court Administrator Cristina Rodriguez said.

Award recipients were recognized at TMCEC’s Municipal Traffic Safety Initiatives Conference held April 2-4 in Waco. For more information about the Carrollton Municipal Court, call 972-466-3348 or visit cityofcarrollton.com/courts.