The Greenwood Probation department is the result of some very hard work by our Honorable Judge Gregory and his staff.
He has is the past put in so many hours on his own time without pay that most people would not do such a job. But our judge is passionate about this community and his work ethic shows that.
Our judge began the drug recovery court program as a tool to aid the citizens. This is not a punishment or he could just send them to jail and be done with them. His passion for the good of each and every citizens shows in this drug recovery program as well as the many other programs he has implemented.
To be eligible for Recovery Court, a candidate must be an adult, be referred to the program by a Johnson County Court and have a minimum of two contacts with law enforcement(including probation violation), caused primarily by drugs or alcohol within the last five years.
The Judge has Jodi Rittman as chief probation officer and she also is an extension of our great judges feelings. She is very passionate about the extensive help offered by the court and extended down through the probation department.
At this present time the probation department handles about 700 standard probation cases. These are people who are probable on probation for a minor offense or maybe for the first time.
Also this department handles about 80 recovery probation cases. These are people who need the extra help in getting over the drug or alcohol addiction.
The case load is remarkable due to the limited staff.
The recovery court has a book called “The Dragon Book”. The logo adopted by the recovery court is the Dragon and the sword. This is because the Dragon represents the addiction and the sword represents the skills and knowledge gained through the program. Which within its pages are the programs guidelines.
The different levels of help offered and the levels of recognition as each participate graduates from one level to the next. The “Dragon Book” also has guidelines for those who may slip back or fail a certain level.
Take notice of the “Dragon Logo”. It helps participates realize what they have to fight to be successful and free themselves of drug or alcohol addition. The fight is real and for some a struggle from one level to the next.
Each case requires drug testing. Some require random testing and closer observation than others. But each person has to do the drug testing. It is mandatory and comes with a hefty penalty if one should fail. They are reverted back to the previous level and have to go through all the previous level’s requirements again.
Each person is given recognition as they graduate from one level to the next. And when they finish the last level the get a graduation certificate. This may not seem like much to some but to those who have conquered a drug addiction it is monumental.
Does the program work? I can say with accuracy that the Recovery Court has more closed cases than they have file cabinet space (See picture). The program definitely works and is a tribute to the people, the probation officer and the participant.
This program covers a much broader scope than space will allow here. But we have shown you a summary of this great effort by our Greenwood Courts. Our Great Judge would prefer offering this help to people as opposed to jail time if possible. This saves the taxpayers thousands of dollars from incarcerated inmates and helps give the people another chance.
