Portage County drug court in final stages of approval

By Kyle Dawson, Lauren Rathmell and Eric Poston

County courts across the nation are switching gears to better serve those facing drug addictions. Portage County is one step away from becoming a certified drug court under the leadership of Judge Becky Doherty.

Doherty has worked towards creating an official drug court in Portage County since 2014, when she was elected to the Portage County Court of Common Pleas.

The court, which is under preliminary certification, should come to fruition by 2017.

In Ohio, courts must meet specific requirements to officially operate as a drug court, and all paperwork filed with the Ohio Supreme Court for the Portage County drug court has been accepted.

“We just need Ohio Supreme Court to come and observe us in action before we get our official certification,” Doherty said.

Doherty is currently operating her court as a drug court when it comes to drug related cases. The official drug court will run as a two-track court system which will help previous felons and first offenders. Typically, clients admitted into her drug court have no prior felony convictions.

“The hope is to have people involved that are not prior felons, that could eventually salvage their records and not have a felony conviction,” Doherty said.  “But also on the other hand, folks that just need that intensive constant contact with the court and the probation department.”

Working closely with Judge Doherty, Chief of Probation Cathy Poling says her office had to restructure slightly to ensure compliance with state policies.

“We have two officers set to work with drug court clients,” Poling said. “One officer from the regular caseloads and another from the Intense Supervision division.”

Both officers will maintain their regular clientele along with the drug court clients.

Clients going through the drug court will have a closer relationship with their probation officers according to Assistant Chief Hank Gibson.

Gibson and Poling agreed that this type of close supervision is key to the successful operations of a drug court.

Assistant Chief of Probation Hank Gibson recognized the increase in caseloads due to the drug epidemic in the area.

Barberton Municipal Court Judge Jill Flagg Lanzinger said there was a need for drug treatment services for residents of Summit County as well.

“We certainly have enough people to fill the program,” Lanzinger said. “The biggest struggle we have is getting our participants to get all of the services they need.”

Lanzinger completed the required work to get certified as a drug court by the Ohio Supreme court. The drug court has been in existence almost a year, but there are still challenges.

“There are people who we have referred to drug court who just straight up say they are not ready to do the work or get sober,” Lanzinger said. “We see our participants get their lives back. They get a job, they start being able to see their family members again. Some of them have had their children taken away and when they start getting sober they are allowed to see their kids again.”

Lanzinger said the court has saved money with this drug court because treatment costs less than incarceration.

“There is a statistic that’s says that if you incarcerate a drug addict, especially heroine, and they are released, they are more likely to overdose and die in the two weeks upon their release and die in that first year after their release,” Lanzinger said.

Currently the Barberton program has 20 people in treatment and a few others that are in the process of entering the program.

Lanzinger said she would wager most crimes committed in the municipal district are by someone suffering from some type of addiction. She said crime rates are likely to drop with more participants in the program.

“It’s a voluntary program so the defendant could decide at the last minute, even on their next court date, after we have evaluated them that they don’t want to participate in the program and then they wouldn’t participate, it is voluntary,” Lanzinger said. “But once you are in you are in.”

Lanzinger said a drug court session is like group therapy and each person gets one-on-one treatment. Have they been triggered to use drugs lately? Did they have a relapse? Why did they have a relapse? These are just a few of the questions that are asked.

“I am really getting to know these people very well and what their quirks are and what their hang ups are and what triggers they are having in their lives,” Lanzinger said. “You can really help a population of people when you know more about them and not just a one day court event where you get a bunch of paper about what has been happening.”

 

Two Ohio judges speak on how drug courts may be the answer to the current drug epidemic https://t.co/pCETLtlFcB

— Kyle Marie Dawson (@KyleMarieDawson) December 14, 2016

 

 

Portage County’s drug court is in the final stages of certification. See the story below for more details. #JMCRPPhttps://t.co/1XthFMeORC

— Lauren Rathmell (@laurenrathmell1) December 14, 2016

Portage County drug court in final stages of approvalhttps://t.co/X0N7Jg438f

— Eric Poston (@ericposton) December 14, 2016