The Martinsville and Henry County regional drug court has had a busy 2023, graduating its first participant and becoming nationally recognized, among other accomplishments in its efforts to disentangle addiction and criminality via a growing national trend.
The Piedmont Adult Drug Court, one of 56 similar courts across Virginia, represents local efforts to recontextualize drug abuse by separating it from standard criminal proceedings.
According to local officials, its purpose is to ultimately bring compassion into drug-related cases by emphasizing treatment over punishment for adults and children. Specifically, it provides guidance, training and oversight for qualifying individuals charged with crimes stemming from drug abuse. This could include psychological evaluations, the completion of educational programs, regular court appearances and supervised use of medication.
Eligibility is determined by an analysis of an applicant’s prior offenses and history of drug abuse. In 2022, 260 participants completed a program in Virginia, which translates to a 45.8% graduation rate. A participant who fails the program is often remanded back to the traditional court system.
“This is not a soft-on-crime approach, this is not a get-out-of-jail-free approach,” said Martinsville Commonwealth’s Attorney G. Andrew Hall. “We’re trying to help folks … but at the same time we are trying to reduce crime.”
According to Hall, around half of the cases that come through his office are drug-related. He said that it isn’t out of the ordinary for drug addictions to lead to other crimes, like theft. Speaking from experience as the family member of someone with addiction, Hall said it’s difficult for everyone involved, from the addicted to friends and family.
Kelly Koebel, senior assistant director of clinical services at Piedmont Community Services, agrees.
“Having grown up in this community, I have seen the damage that substance use disorders have on individuals, their families and our community,” Koebel said.
Koebel has been a vocal supporter for the Piedmont Adult Drug Court since its founding in 2021. She isn’t alone. In April, the Harvest Foundation, in an effort to bolster the program, committed to invest $336,480 to be distributed over a three-year period.
[Disclosure: The Harvest Foundation is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
“The Piedmont Adult Drug Court is extremely grateful to The Harvest Foundation for this significant grant, which will help us to fulfill our mission to reduce drug abuse and criminal recidivism in the local community,” Judge G. Carter Greer said at the time of the donation.
Greer, the chief judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit, which covers Henry and Patrick counties and the city of Martinsville, oversees the Piedmont Adult Drug Court. He’s been an advocate for a change to how courts deal with nonviolent drug offenders.
“In the last twenty-five years, drug treatment courts have arisen throughout the nation, and they are now widespread in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Greer said via email. “The reason for the rapid growth of such courts is their record of success in treating substance use disorders and reducing criminal recidivism. Though it is certainly unorthodox, combining clinical treatment and court supervision has proven to be quite effective.”
The role played by judges dates back to the state’s first drug court in 1995. At the time, now-retired Circuit Judge Diane Strickland was both the overseer and primary advocate for the drug court based in Roanoke.
“I think this is a way we could stop this revolving door,” Strickland said of the thought at the time. “There was not a lot happening, therapeutically, at the time.”
After observing similar drug courts in Florida, Strickland said she believed that Virginia could benefit from similar programs. After 30 years in Virginia, her hypothesis about the benefits of drug courts proved correct as Virginia improved a number of criminal-related factors including the rate of drug court participation, sobriety level and cost, among others.
Strickland said drug courts are a means of criminal justice reformation, adding that she believes it to be a more humane solution.
“We have far less people being confined for crimes motivated by addictions,” Strickland said. “There are so many people in the Commonwealth that, if not for their addiction, they wouldn’t cross that line into the criminal justice system.”
Virginian jurisdictions with drug courts saw a decrease in drug-related crime rates, ranging from 8% to 26%, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Strickland added that drug courts tend to be more cost-effective than traditional court processing. A 2022 Virginia audit of drug courts detailed savings of $19,234 per participant, compared to handling their cases through the traditional court system.
“I think [there is a] ‘revolving door’ that we see in our justice system of defendants committing crimes, coming to court, going to jail, getting released, and starting all over again,” said Melanie Meadows, the treatment administrator for the Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Drug Courts, which have been in operation since 2000.
“There is an abundance of research that dictates the need for treatment in lieu of incarceration for some offenders — particularly those with substance use disorders,” Meadows continued. “If we don’t treat the problem, chances are we will see the defendant back before the court. Developing a drug court for us was about stopping the cycle.”
In Martinsville and Henry County, fatal drug overdoses run a bit higher than the state average, according to Virginia’s Medical Examiner’s Office. While Virginia has an average of 27.1 per 1,000 people, Henry County’s is 31.7 while Martinsville’s is 56.7.
The county’s Department of Social Services also reports that 60% of children in the foster care system have parents who have abused drugs.
“The goals of drug treatment courts include: reducing drug addiction and drug dependency among offenders; reducing recidivism; reducing drug-related court workloads; increasing personal, familial and societal accountability among offenders; and, promoting effective planning and use of resources among the criminal justice system and community agencies,” reads part of Virginia’s Drug Treatment Court Act.
Local officials hope the Piedmont Adult Drug Court, while not necessarily a magic bullet solution, will positively impact Martinsville and Henry County.
The court can currently serve up to 11 participants, but officials hope to expand to 15 annually. The first participant was admitted in April last year. This past August, the drug court celebrated its first graduate.
The program lasts for 12 months and entails extensive treatment. After successful completion, a judge can decide to dismiss the original drug charge, reduce the charge or suspend a sentence.
While relatively new, the Piedmont Adult Drug Court has garnered statewide attention. In September, it joined 19 other newly established courts across the United States to receive instruction from the All Rise Treatment Court Institute.
All Rise specializes in providing training to new drug courts. For three days, All Rise instructors provided a crash course in best practices in implementing a drug court. This entailed an audit of procedures and treatments, among other factors.
The program’s instructor, Daryl Jackson, spoke on the importance of communities to continue supporting these projects.
“Treatment courts have to look at ways they can engage the community to really sustain the program,” Jackson said. “We are a driving force for help and support … we’re not here to only lock up folks and throw away the key.”