JUDGE RECEIVES SMITH YOUTH ADVOCATE AWARD FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO UTAH'S JUVENILE JUSTICE

Judge Merrill L. Hermansen has received the Lillian Smith Youth Advocate Award from the Utah Board of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for significant contributions to juvenile justice.

The award was named in honor of Lillian Smith, a board member who counseled adolescent substance abusers in Utah County and was named by President George Bush as one of his Thousand Points of Light.Hermansen was appointed a judge for 3rd District Juvenile Court in 1969. This court is now 4th District Juvenile Court.

He was presiding judge for Utah's juvenile courts from 1974 through 1976. From 1989 to 1990, he chaired the Board of Juvenile Court Judges. Hermansen retired from the juvenile court bench and took senior judge status Oct. 1, 1992.

Prior to his appointment to the juvenile court, Hermansen served as judge of the Orem City Court from 1962 to 1969. Hermansen received his juris doctorate in 1953 from the University of Utah College of Law.

Hermansen has received numerous honors, including an award for professional excellence by the Utah Chapter of the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse and the commissioner's award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Hermansen is married to Jean L. Pehrson Hermansen. They have five children.