Kentucky Court of Justice
Deputy Chief Justice Mary C. Noble to be guest speaker at Garrard/Jessamine Drug Court graduation March 10

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Deputy Chief Justice Mary C. Noble of the Supreme Court of Kentucky will be the guest speaker at a graduation ceremony Thursday, March 10, to recognize three participants who have successfully completed the Garrard/Jessamine County Drug Court program. The ceremony will take place at 12:30 p.m. EST in the Jessamine County District Court Courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse annex. The annex is located at 107 N. Main St. in Nicholasville. The ceremony is open to the public.

 One of the participants scheduled to graduate is Robin Duncan of Nicholasville, who was featured in The Jessamine Journal’s November 2010 article about the local Drug Court program. The other graduating participants are a man who was the program’s first Jessamine County participant and a Garrard County man who will be the program’s first Garrard County graduate.

District Court Judge Janet C. Booth, who serves Garrard and Jessamine counties, will preside over the graduation ceremony. Judge Booth volunteers her time to conduct Drug Court proceedings.

Invitees to the ceremony include law enforcement representatives, elected officials, attorneys and representatives of drug treatment facilities.

The Garrard/Jessamine County Drug Court program began in April 2008 and has 17 participants, which includes the three scheduled to graduate March 10. Three participants have graduated since the program started.

Kentucky Drug Court
Drug Court is proving to be a positive solution to a serious social problem. The success of Drug Court can be measured in the number of lives changed and the cost savings to Kentucky taxpayers. The program has had a significant impact on reducing rearrest, reconviction and reincarceration rates. The program has resulted in increased payment of delinquent child support and improved employment rates. For every $1 spent on Drug Court graduates, the state saves $2.72 on what it would have spent on incarcerating these individuals.

The mission is to provide a court-supervised treatment alternative that stops illicit drug use and related criminal activity and promotes a positive life change through substance abuse education and treatment.

How Drug Court Works
Drug Court coordinates the efforts of the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social services and treatment communities to actively intervene and break the cycle of substance abuse, addiction and crime.

The program consists of three phases that last a total of at least one year and are followed by aftercare. Drug Court staff and participants work together to develop individual program plans with specific responsibilities and goals with timetables. Plans include group, family and individual counseling; frequent and random urine testing; education and vocational training; scheduled payments of restitution, child support and court fees; and health and community activities. Participants report directly to their Drug Court judge, who rewards progress and sanctions noncompliance.

When participants successfully complete the program, charges may be dismissed through diversion, or conditional discharge may be granted through probation. Judges who participate in Drug Court volunteer their time to the program. Most of the program’s funding comes from state funds approved through the Kentucky General Assembly.

For more information about Drug Court, visit http://courts.ky.gov/stateprograms/Drug+Court/.

Administrative Office of the Courts
Kentucky Drug Court is administered through the Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort and oversees 55 adult Drug Court programs that serve 115 counties. Drug Court is a division of the AOC Department of Statewide Services.

The AOC is the operations arm for the state court system and supports the activities of nearly 3,600 court system employees and 403 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. As the fiscal agent for the state court system, the AOC executes the Judicial Branch budget.