Jefferson County Drug Court will celebrate National Drug Court Month on Friday with a celebration at 9:30 a.m. at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Supervisory Special Agent Anthony Lemons of the Drug Enforcement Administration will be the featured speaker.
The Jefferson County Drug Court began in May 2004 with five clients, and in March 2015 had 250 clients in the program. Of those, 99 have graduated and the county has obtained thousands of dollars in restitution, according to a press release. There are currently 61 participants in the program, and 18 of them are working to obtain their GED.
Also according to the press release, the drug court program has a recidivism rate of 4.9 percent.
The Jefferson County Drug Court is a judicially supervised court docket that reduces correctional costs, enhances community safety and improves public welfare, according to the press release. In these programs, seriously addicted individuals remain in treatment for long periods of time under close supervision, and court participants must meet obligations to themselves, their families and society.
To ensure accountability, they are regularly and randomly tested for substance use, required to appear frequently in court so the judge can assess their progress, rewarded for meeting goals and sanctioned for not meeting clearly stated obligations, according to the press release.
National Drug Court Month is coordinated by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. This year, drug courts are celebrating the month with the theme Criminal Justice Reform in Action.
Nationally, the press release said there are 2,966 treatment courts in operation in the 50 states and U.S. territories, and they have successfully treated close to 150,000 substance-addicted individuals each year.