13th Judicial Circuit Treatment CourtDrug Court

The Drug Court Program is a court-supervised, comprehensive treatment program which accepts participants through various entry tracks. It includes first time non-violent offenders; probationers; and offenders who are returning to the community from the Department of Corrections. All participants have been determined to require substance abuse treatment and are felony offenders. The Drug Court may be a voluntary program or ordered as a condition of probation and parole. Participation includes regular court appearances before the Drug Court Commissioner.

Treatment, which includes drug testing, individual counseling and group counseling, is provided through Reality House for men and McCambridge Center for women. The defendant is also expected to obtain and maintain employment or involvement in vocational or educational programs and maintain regular attendance at 12-step meetings (Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous). The length of the Drug Court Program is determined by each participant’s progress and will be a minimum of one year and no longer than two years.

The mission of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Adult Drug Court Programs is to assist all participants in their recovery process, acknowledging that recovery is a courageous choice that will benefit the participant, their family members, and the community as a whole. We are committed to treating all participants with dignity and respect as they gain insight into their circumstances and internalize the values that will help change their lives, keep them drug and crime free, and render our community safer.

The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Adult Drug Court Programs aims to accomplish its mission by:

• Providing drug-addicted and substance abusing offenders with judicially supervised treatment as an alternative to incarceration;
• Providing participants with the education needed to curb drug and alcohol addiction, criminal thinking, and promote a life of recovery and sobriety;
• Provide rigorous supervision and case management to ensure that each participant complies with their individual treatment goals and objectives;
• Provide immediate interventions to reduce high-risk behaviors and promote responsible behaviors while holding them accountable for their actions;
• Assisting participants with their vocational, educational, employment, health care needs through community partnerships;
• Encouraging participants to maintain a drug and alcohol free lifestyle by administering random drug and alcohol testing;
• Maintaining a cohesive team that can help assist participants with life changing behaviors through continued education and professional growth;
• Perform regular evaluation measures to help promote effective practices and improve ineffective practices.

A Drug Court participant will be required to appear in Drug Court on a regular basis. At each appearance, the Commissioner will be given a progress report prepared by the treatment team regarding drug test results, attendance and participation in treatment and compliance with the Diversion Manager or Probation Officer. The Commissioner may ask the participant questions about his/her progress, and discuss any specific problems the participant may have been experiencing. If doing well, the participant will be encouraged to continue with the program and work with the treatment team toward graduation. If not doing well, the Commissioner will discuss these issues with the participant and the treatment team and determine further action. In the event of program violations; i.e., missed or dirty urine screens, failure to attend individual or group counseling, failure to attend 12-step meetings, etc., sanctions may be imposed by the court. (For more information on Sanctions see page 9). Repeated violation of the program expectations, and failure to progress satisfactorily may result in termination from the program.

Failure to appear in court on the date and time scheduled may result in a warrant being issued for the participant’s arrest. If a participant cannot appear in court as scheduled, the Diversion Manager or Probation Officer and Drug Court Administrator must be notified as soon as possible.

The following violations may result in termination from the Drug Court Program: warrants and/or new arrests; missing drug tests; demonstrating a lack of program response by failing to cooperate with treatment, and violence or threats of violence directed at the treatment team or others. The Drug Court Commissioner will make the final decisions regarding termination from the program.

Roles of Drug Court Team Members

The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court having united in purpose with the Boone and Callaway County Prosecutor’s Office, the Boone and Callaway County Public Defenders Office, the Boone and Callaway County Sheriff’s Department, the Columbia and Fulton Police Department, Missouri State Probation and Parole Office, and designated substance abuse treatment providers (McCambridge Center for Women, Reality House Programs, Inc., and Family Counseling Center) agree to collaborate in an effort to address substance abuse and drug related criminal activity in Boone and Callaway County. In an effort to support a comprehensive program of services to meet the needs of qualified participants we, the Drug Court Team Members, commit to the following:

DRUG COURT COMMISSIONER: The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Drug Court Commissioner presides over the Drug Court Programs. The Drug Court Commissioner is responsible for adhering to the Missouri Drug Court Rules and all revisions to the rules with special considerations being given to the promulgation of any community-based rules deemed necessary for the success of the Drug Court Programs. As a member of the Drug Court Team the Commissioner will preside over the court proceedings and monitor appropriate applications of disciplines, sanctions, and incentives while maintaining the integrity of the court. At the first court appearance, the Commissioner will explain the defendant’s legal rights, program requirements and options. The Commissioner will require that the defendants appear at regularly scheduled status hearing, in which time the Commissioner will review, with the defendants, their treatment progress reports. From this information the Commissioner will have the opportunity to reinforce positive behaviors, identify area that need continued improvements, and/or impose appropriate consequences.

DRUG COURT ADMINISTRATOR: The Administrator will manage and coordinate the various components in the Drug Court program. The Administrator will perform administrative functions such as long range planning, budget requests, establishing procedures and overseeing day-to-day operation. Responsibilities also include primary liaison with other agencies, the news media and the general public; and on-going development, evaluation, and functioning of programs. The Administrator will also act as a liaison between Drug Court and the representatives of the other agencies. The Administrator will receive the initial screening information from the Prosecuting Attorney or recommend to the Prosecuting Attorney the review of a Defendant based on information received as the result of a bond investigation. Once the Prosecuting Attorney determines the Defendant has met the admission criteria, the Administrator will conduct an initial intake and assessment, contact the Diversion Manager, and appropriate treatment provider to inform them of the initial candidates’ status. The Administrator will then gather all the assessment information and present this to the staffing team prior to court. In addition, the Administrator is responsible for court scheduling, maintaining the Drug Court Manual, disseminating information to the public and within the criminal justice system, compiling statistical data, maintaining and updating the court file, providing the court with the most updated information, facilitate the staffing meetings by combining information from the Diversion Manager and Treatment Provider for the staffing team to evaluate the Defendant’s progress, and complete the initial intake of the Defendant.

PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: As a member of the Drug Court Programs, the assigned Assistant Prosecuting Attorney will review all potential participants and determine if the offender meets the eligibility criteria. At the first court appearance the Prosecuting Attorney will remind the defendant of the deferred charges and make the defendant aware of the privilege of admission into the Drug Court Programs. The Prosecuting Attorney will attend all Drug Court hearings, actively participate in staffing of cases, and interact in a non-adversarial manner to address revocations, pleas, and application of sanctions and incentives as they apply to the participant.

PUBLIC DEFENDER: As a member of the Drug Court Programs, the assigned Public Defender’s Office will represent the participants and attend each staff meeting and will interact in a non-adversarial manner as the team addresses revocations, pleas, and application of sanctions and incentives as they apply to the participant. The assigned Public Defender will provide all necessary information to the participant’s attorneys in order to provide the best client care possible.

DIVERSION MANAGER/PROBATION OFFICER: As a member of the Drug Court Programs, the assigned Probation Officers will be responsible for implementing the appropriate supervision level based on established measures, provide community linkages and referrals to appropriate agencies, and monitor accountability of social activities and home environment of the participants. The Probation Officers will administer a risk and need scale during the pre-assessment phase and will coordinate assessments with Reality House or McCambridge Center. The Probation Officers will also conduct a full urine screen and provide staffing reports that will include the defendant’s progress in treatment, employment, and any other programs. With this information, he/she will update the Drug Court as to the defendant’s progress prior to the staffing of each Defendant for court.

TREATMENT PROVIDERS: As a member of the Drug Court Programs, the designated treatment providers will administer substance abuse/dependency screening and assessments for each participant, participate in weekly staffing, make treatment recommendations to the court, and provide drug test collections. Treatment providers will provide individual, family, and group therapy sessions as well as classes on chemical dependency, relapse prevention, and life skill. Treatment providers will identify and provide a continuum of care for participants while advocating on behalf of their client while maintaining the integrity of the court. Treatment providers will maintain weekly status reports concerning the clients’ progress in treatment for staff meetings. Treatment agencies will seek out and utilize all other funding sources prior to billing the court for services.

LAW ENFORCEMENT REPERSENTATIVE: As a member of the Drug Court Programs, the assigned law enforcement representative will act as a liaison between the programs and their respective Police agency. The law enforcement officer will be responsible for the dissemination of information to officers who come in contact with or might come in contact with Drug Court participants to assure reasonable and appropriate measures are being used when checking the participants for compliance. In addition, the law enforcement officer will be responsible for assisting with background investigations of potential participants, provide inter-city transport to treatment facilities, follow-up on warrants issued through the court, and monitor sanctions and compliance of participants.

Each team member will be responsible for the dissemination of information to their respective agency with regard to confidentiality laws that apply specifically to Drug Court participants. Likewise the sharing of information between team members is a vital part of working together as a team. Team members will also be charged with the education of peer professionals on the program and develop community linkages which enhance the effectiveness of the program. In creating this partnership and uniting in a signal goal of addressing an underlying problem affecting our community, we are pledged to enhance communication between the courts, law enforcement and treatment programs. Through this linkage of services, we expect wider participation and greater effectiveness in addressing drug offenders involved in the criminal justice system.

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