Five adults along with their families, friends and mentors, gathered Wednesday evening to celebrate their graduation from the DeKalb County Recovery Court program.
The observance was held at the county complex. The graduates Jonathan Armour, Christy Berry, Michael Blanchfield, Caleb Rigsby, and Jeremy Woodard received plaques noting their completion of the recovery court program through which participants commit to becoming clean and sober. In receiving their plaques, each graduate spoke of how the program has made a difference in their lives. They also shared their stories through a video presentation created by Matthew Wenger
The recovery court program provides an alternative to incarceration for eligible non-violent offenders, who are deemed substance dependent.
“We’re extremely proud of our graduates. Instead of the county spending some $18,000 or $20,000 a year on each of them while incarcerated, in recovery court I think the figure is like $3,000 or $4,000 a year per person. It’s a win-win for everyone,” said General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Bratten Cook, II
In his remarks, Judge Cook admonished the graduates to pick their friends well. “If you’ll just do one thing then I can almost guarantee you your life is going to be successful and that is do not associate with any low life’s. Don’t associate with any hoodlums. Don’t associate with any drug addicts. Pick your friends well. You are who you associate with. Do not put yourself in the position you were in when you began your drug court journey. You can’t do that anymore. We all have a purpose in life. God has endowed each of us with certain gifts. The journey through life is trying to find what that purpose is that we all have and to pursue it to help make the world a better place and to help our fellow man,” he said.
“The adult program lasts a minimum of twelve months. The participant must have some kind of criminal charge (to participate in recovery court). No violent offenders can be in the program. They can come (into the program) through a variety of ways as far as a violation of probation or any kind of drug charge, theft charges, and things like that. Typically they are all facing a minimum of a year to serve so this program is an alternative to incarceration. A lot of the program teaches responsibility and the tools to stay sober. That’s really the benefit to the participants. Of course the benefit to the community is that it saves taxpayer dollars while making the community and its citizens safer,” said Norene Puckett, Program Coordinator.
The recovery court graduation program featured guest speaker Gayla Hendrix, local attorney and a Smithville Alderman, who shared her experiences about a family member who suffered from addiction but overcame it through the recovery court program.
Recovery court team members who oversee the program locally in addition to Judge Cook and Recovery Court Coordinator Puckett are Sheriff Patrick Ray, Assistant District Attorney General Stephanie Johnson, John and Kay Quintero from Haven of Hope, primary treatment providers; Assistant Public Defender Scott Grissom, Probation Officer Jay Colton, Juvenile Case Manager Kristy Longmire, and Adult Case Manager Rhonda Harpole.
Archived News & Obituaries