The East Lansing 54B District Court will be implementing an adult drug court as its third problem-solving court. The court already operates a sobriety court and a veterans treatment court.
Due in large part to the collaborative efforts of area Ingham County courts and prosecutors, and a $120,000 grant award from the State Court Administrator's Office, the East Lansing 54B District Court will be implementing a drug court to address the need of dealing with nonviolent offenders in Ingham County who are addicted to drugs.
"Problem solving courts are designed as a substitute for putting the defendant in jail and are proven to work by closely supervising them through a program of drug treatment, counseling, abstention and drug and alcohol testing" says Judge Andrea Andrews Larkin who will preside over the court.
Participants in these specialty treatment courts are far less likely to reoffend as demonstrated by extensive follow up analysis.
The new 54B District Court Drug Court will handle a maximum 30 participants to allow for effective use of available treatment services and resources.
Entry into the program is upon the recommendation of the respective city or county prosecutor and the drug court treatment team.
The program, which has been in the planning stages, is expected to be up and running by Oct. 18.
Published: Mon, Oct 10, 2016
