HUTCHINSON, Kan. — In celebration of National Drug Court Month, the Reno County Drug Court will be one of the sponsors for the “Unite 2 Ignite” event on May 14 at the Fox Theatre.
The movie “Anonymous People,” a documentary to help reduce the stigma and remove barriers, will be the main feature of the evening, along with a panel presentation and support advocates.
This is the 5-year anniversary of the Reno County Drug Court. Since its inception, Reno County Drug Court has had 89 participants over the past 5 years.
National Drug Court Month is coordinated by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). This year, treatment courts throughout the nation are celebrating National Drug Court Month with the theme “Criminal Justice Reform in Action.” Next week’s uplifting Unite to Ignite event is evidence of the tremendous impact the Reno County Drug Court and partners has had on our community and will send a powerful message that these programs reduce drug use, crime, and recidivism while saving lives, families, and valuable resources for our state.
Today, 2,966 treatment courts are in operation in all 50 states, plus US territories, successfully treating close to 150,000 substance‐addicted individuals each year. Since 1989, these courts have saved over 1.4 million lives and billions of tax dollars.
“Drug courts and other treatment courts are the most successful programs for seriously addicted
individuals in our nation’s history and represent true criminal justice reform in action,” NADCP CEO Carson Fox said. “Drug courts and other treatment courts restore lives, reunite families, and make communities safer, all while saving money for taxpayers. Instead of punishment, these programs provide life‐saving treatment to those who need it most.”
The Reno County Drug Court is a judicially supervised court docket that reduces correctional costs, enhances community safety, and improves public welfare. In these programs, seriously addicted individuals remain in treatment for long periods of time while under close supervision. Court participants must meet obligations to themselves, their families, and society.
To ensure accountability, they are regularly and randomly tested for substance use, required to appear frequently in court for the judge to review their progress, rewarded for meeting goals, and sanctioned for not meeting clearly stated obligations.
Research continues to show that treatment courts work better than jail or prison, better than
probation, and better than treatment alone.
One participant said, “Thank you for helping me realize how amazing life is outside of drug use and for showing me who I can become.” Treatment courts are this nation’s most effective strategy to reduce recidivism among substance addicted, nonviolent offenders with criminal histories. Nationally, 75 percent of individuals who complete such programs are not re‐arrested. These courts save up to $13,000 for every individual they serve and return as much as $27 for every $1 invested.