After renewing discussions at the November 2013 planning meeting, the TJCSA Executive Committee voted to pursue the conversion of the Tennessee Juvenile Court Services Association from a 501(c)(6) professional association to a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, thereby making the association eligible for sales tax-exempt status in the state.
After securing the expertise of Patrice Lee Minteer, a Knoxville area attorney, procuring all of the necessary financial documentation from the association’s accounting firm, the adoption of a new Conflict of Interest Policy, and much effort to put the work of the TJCSA in written form for the IRS to understand how our association works and services we provide, the paperwork for the IRS has now been compiled. On May 9, 2014, the application packet was signed by the 2014 TJCSA President, Teresa Moyers, and submitted to the Internal Revenue Service for consideration.
Keep your fingers crossed! A favorable determination by the IRS that allows the TJCSA to convert its status to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization will be a major accomplishment for us. The potential cost savings per year could be in the thousands, monies that could possibly be well used, at the approval of the executive committee, to fund additional scholarship endowments at our state universities and colleges for students with an interest in entering the juvenile justice field.