On Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. the Kanawha County Drug Court will be conducting a graduation ceremony for six clients who have completed the program. The ceremony will be held in the historic Court Room #4 at the Kanawha County Courthouse. Interviews with those managing and enrolled in the program can be arranged following the ceremony.
Kanawha County’s Drug Court is headed by Judge Jennifer Bailey, and is staffed by members of the Public Defender’s Office, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Adult Probation, and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office’s Day Report, Home Confinement, and Law Enforcement Divisions. It was established to enhance public safety while reducing crime and related convictions through judicially supervised substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation, and monitoring.
The Kanawha County Drug Court has had 44 graduates since opening in July 2009. Of those 44, only six have reoffended, placing Kanawha County’s recidivism rate at 13.63%, far below the national average recidivism rate of 27.5%*. The program has had 174 people enrolled, and has saved $2,618,097 through jail cost reductions alone (July 2009 through April 30, 2013).
More information on the Drug Court can be obtained on the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office’s webpage.
* http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/Fact_Sheets/drug_courts_fact_sheet_5-31-11.pdf
–
Corporal B. D. Humphreys
Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office
301 Virginia Street East,
Charleston WV 25301
304-357-0732 / 304-951-7328