The Beadle County Drug Court recently received a $1000 donation from an anonymous community donor. The donation will be used to purchase incentives for participants in the Drug Court when they prove they are sober and completing treatment and supervision requirements as directed. Incentives may include movie tickets, gift cards to buy groceries, gas or to eat out at a local restaurant that is alcohol free.
Beadle County Drug Court accepted its first drug court client in July 2015 and to date has had 13 participants go through the program.
Drug Courts are special criminal court dockets that combine mandatory drug abuse treatment and case management with intensive judicial supervision, regularly scheduled status hearings in court, random weekly urine drug testing, and a system of behavior modification based on incentives and sanctions. Programs are generally 12-24 months in length.
The Drug Court Judge and the Drug Court Team meet weekly to assess the participant’s progress and offer changes in programming. The team includes a coordinator, prosecutor, defense attorney, treatment representative, court services officer, and a law enforcement representative.
Substantial research indicates that drug courts significantly reduce crime and drug abuse and the effects have been shown to last several years.
Those eligible to apply for Drug Court must be 18 years and older, be facing a felony level criminal charge, be willing to participate in the program, have no current drug distribution charges, have no prior convictions involving crimes of violence as and cannot be a registered sex offender.
For more information about the Beadle County Drug Court or to learn how you can help this community program, contact Drug Court Coordinator – Courtney Eschenbaum at [email protected] or (605) 690-1591.