– Photo by John Meiu
Oakland County Circuit Court Judges (front row, left to right) Joan Young and Shalina Kumar congratulated graduates of the Oakland County Adult Treatment Court at the Wednesday, Jan. 27, graduation ceremony. Among the graduates were (back row, left to right) James Burling, James Flanagan-Byrd, and Bradley Jones.
On Wednesday, Jan. 27, the Oakland County Adult Treatment Court (ATC) held its 45th graduation since its inception in August of 2001. The 203rd through the 208th graduates were honored with a ceremony and reception held in the Oakland County Commissioners' Auditorium.
This graduation also marked Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar's first graduation ceremony as the presiding judge over the female section of the ATC. Kumar took over the reins as presiding judge from Judge Colleen O'Brien who was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals in October of 2015.
The ATC has served 612 participants to date. It offers a sentencing alternative for non-violent felony offenders with serious substance abuse problems. This program addresses the underlying substance abuse problems that lead many offenders to engage in criminal behavior. The focus is to intervene in the substance abuse and eliminate criminal activity through intense court supervision and utilization of various recovery and counseling services.
Without the ATC program, these individuals would otherwise be facing a probable sentence of months, if not years, in jail or prison. Beyond the extremely close judicial and community supervision and the intense substance-abuse treatment, frequent substance abuse testing is required. In addition, the participants are expected to find and maintain employment, pay court costs, including restitution to the victims of their crimes, and take responsibility for the support of their children.
Published: Wed, Feb 10, 2016
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
