Williams Drug Court Kicks Off Today

A new chap­ter begins today in Williams County Court, when the county’s first Drug Court con­venes. Judge Stelzer will meet with the court’s team of men­tal health pro­fes­sion­als, recov­ery ser­vices staff and pro­ba­tion depart­ment per­son­nel to con­sider the first four poten­tial can­di­dates for the new ven­ture. Drug Court will now han­dle cases involv­ing substance-abusing offend­ers by using a col­lab­o­ra­tive, holis­tic approach of super­vi­sion, drug test­ing, treat­ment ser­vices and imme­di­ate rewards or sanc­tions. Drug court is for non-violent drug offend­ers who agree to the spe­cial terms in exchange for help to address their drug use. Those fac­ing crim­i­nal charges for drug use and pos­ses­sion will have the chance to enter a sub­stance abuse recov­ery pro­gram in lieu of jail time. They’ll have to make reg­u­lar court appear­ances, be tested fre­quently, and attend sub­stance abuse recov­ery meet­ings in order to ful­fill the require­ments of Drug Court.