Kanawha County Drug Court Program

The Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program is designed to assist states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments in developing and establishing drug courts for substance-abusing adult and juvenile offenders. Drug court programs funded by the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program are required by law to target nonviolent offenders. The Program supports the following activities: adult drug court implementation, single jurisdiction drug court enhancement, statewide drug court enhancement, and planning efforts.

The Kanawha County Adult Drug Court (KCDC) will act as a Pre-Trial Diversion Program as well as a Post-Adjudication Program. The KCDC will assign two Circuit Court Judges to work with offenders whose cases fall outside of Magistrate Court Jurisdiction, which would include those charged with misdemeanor and felony cases. The Planning Team for the KCDC have determined that the criteria for eligibility is as follows: the person must be an adult who has committed a non-violent substance abuse related crime, including an alcohol related offense such as DUI; must be a substance abuse addict; and must be able to review the requirements of the program, understand them and agree to accept them. Eligible participants must also not posses a risk to any of the staff, self or community and there must be treatment available for the offender. Those individuals that must participate in a detoxification program or in-patient program before beginning the KCDC must be medically cleared by a doctor to begin intensive out-patient treatment program. Individuals who have committed a crime involving a child or involving a sex offense will not be eligible for the KCDC. The KCDC will utilize its Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Single Jurisdiction Drug Court Implementation grant to accomplish its four set goals. The goals are to: 1) Develop a holistic treatment program for non-violent offenders with substance abuse related charges entering the justice system; 2) Reduce the recidivism rate among non-violent offenders with substance abuse related charges; 3) Provide rehabilitation assistance to non-violent addicted offenders participating in the Drug Court Program; and 4) Assist non-violent offenders in restructuring their lives and reintegrating into society.

CA/NCF