ALACHUA COUNTY, FL – The Alachua County Commission proclaimed May, 2016 as National Drug Court Month. Nationally, almost 3,000 Drug Courts and 250 Veterans Treatment Courts serve to reduce correctional costs, protect community safety, and improve public welfare.\
Participants must meet obligations to themselves, their families, and society. To ensure accountability, participants are regularly and randomly tested for drug use, required to appear frequently in court, rewarded for progress, and sanctioned for not living up to their obligations. Research demonstrates that these courts produce more positive outcomes than jail or prison, probation, and treatment alone.
Alachua County’s Drug Court program was established as one of the first Drug Courts in the nation and has served more than 2,800 participants in 23 years of operation. The Honorable David Kreider and the Honorable Walter Green preside over Alachua County’s Drug Court. Program supervision and treatment is fully funded by the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners and partners with the local criminal justice system and social service agencies.
While presenting the declaration, Commission Chair Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson said, “Drug courts provide the focus and leadership for community-wide, anti-drug efforts, fostering collaboration between criminal justice, treatment, education, and other community partners to deter drug abuse and crime.”
View the National Drug Court Month proclamation.
The Drug Court conducts its next graduation ceremony on Friday, May 6, at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 1-B of the Criminal Courthouse (202 S. Main Street, Gainesville). The Drug Court hearings and graduations are open to the public.
“Graduations are an opportunity for the public and interested parties to help understand the work our participants accomplish to achieve their success and become productive community members,” stated Alachua County Drug Court Program Supervisor Frank Owens following the Commission Meeting.
For more information about Drug Court, Veterans Treatment Court, or Mental Health Court, contact Frank Owens at 352-384-3199 or fowens@alachuacounty.us.