Drug Court to receive funds
Officials from the Administrative Office of the Courts will present a $21,727 award to the Jefferson County Adult Drug Court at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Judge Alex Guynn’s courtroom at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Marty Sullivan, director of the AOC, will also deliver Naloxone kits so that every courtroom within the county has the medication on hand. Naloxone helps overdose victims survive by blocking and reversing the effects of opioid drugs on a person’s body, according to a news release.
Chief Justice John Dan Kemp announced the upcoming presentations.
“These funds will better equip Jefferson County’s Adult Drug Court with the resources it needs to address the ongoing opioid epidemic within the Jefferson County community,” Kemp said the news release. “As a former drug court judge and as chair of the Specialty Court Program Advisory Committee, I understand that the state’s drug courts, and other specialty courts, play a critical role in addressing the cruel impact the opioid crisis is having in our communities.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The funds are part of a $1 million award to the AOC by the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office and must be used to provide restorative services for drug court participants, including transitional and chemical-free housing, substance abuse and mental health services, peer support recovery services, childcare assistance, and educational services and programming, according to the release.
Funding for the Naloxone kits was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the release.
“Given their close work with those suffering from opioid addiction, it is important that our courts and court personnel have a readily available supply of Naloxone on hand,” Sullivan said.
According to data from the Arkansas Department of Health, there were 487 deaths from overdose statewide in 2022, the most recent full year for which data is available.