Court program aimed at felons who use drugs

By DORIS COOK - Staff Writer
Star Beacon

August 14, 2008 10:35 pm

— JEFFERSON — Common Pleas Court will kick off a program within a few weeks aimed at reducing substance abuse, crime and repeat felony offenders, said Common Pleas Court Judge Alfred Mackey.
Mackey and County Prosecutor Thomas Sartini have spearheaded the project, which has been in the planning stages for the past eight years.
Technical guidance has come from staff officials of the Ohio Supreme Court, area substance abuse treatment centers plus the Ohio Adult Parole Authority and the county’s Adult Probation Department.
Ashtabula County Bar Association members and court personnel on Wednesday got a program overview presented by Mackey, Sartini, and attorney Melissa Knopp, manager of the Ohio Supreme Court’s specialized dockets section. Other speakers included Ashtabula County Public Defender Marie Lane; Kim Doran, admissions director with NorthEast Ohio Community Alternative Program (NEOCAP); and Jan Amstutz, program coordinator with the Ohio Adult Parole Authority.
Mackey takes on the extra judicial duties for the new drug court. Sartin’s role is to review all applications received from defense attorneys, who represent drug offenders.
“We plan to kick off the court by the end of the month. I have the first application from the public defender’s office,” Sartini said.
Knopp told the group there are 72 drug courts in Ohio at various levels.
“The focus of the drug courts is taking offenders and teach the person to make the right choices. It is estimated that 22 million Americans are classified with substance dependence or abuse or 9.4 percent of the total population age 12 or older,” Knopp said.
Mackey said the court has a commitment from Lake Area Recovery Center to assist in the program. “We aren’t giving them any money this first year,” he added.
Drug court will be held at 2 p.m. every Monday in Mackey’s courtroom.
A screening process will weed out those defendants who may not meet the 12 to 18-month duration treatment period. The drug court assessment team will review all prospective applicants once the prosecutor’s office accepts the defendant.