BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Case specialist Tim Maynard shined a light on drug court during the Kiwanis Club luncheon Thursday at Masterpiece Kitchen & Café in Inez. He has worked at the Kentucky Department of Specialty Courts for six years, serving Martin, Johnson and Lawrence counties.
Maynard explained that drug court diverts offenders with substance use problems from incarceration and works to get them back into the community.
He prefers the term “specialty court” over “drug court.”
“The word ‘drug’ has a negative connotation and we want to take that out of our vocabulary,” Maynard said.
The program started in 2003 as a pilot program in Martin County, initially focusing on misdemeanor DUI cases. Over time, it expanded into a felony drug court characterized by stringent requirements and an emphasis on compliance and punitive sanctions.
Reflecting on the early days, Maynard remarked, “It wasn’t uncommon to send somebody to jail for missing a drug screening, an individual session or any other requirement. We did a lot of jail.”
However, perspectives have shifted since then.
“Now we know that was a mistake,” said Maynard. “Jail is not therapeutic. It can be used in some forms, but it’s not therapeutic to keep someone in jail. Drug court was created to keep that from happening.”
Modern drug court connects the judiciary, prosecutors, community agencies, drug treatment providers and other support groups through comprehensive case management. The program addresses participants’ other needs, such as education, housing, employment and mental health referrals.
While preventing future criminal activity, the program also reduces the burden and cost of repeatedly processing offenders through the justice system and jails. According to Maynard, incarcerating a single individual can cost as much as $58,000 per year.
“We want to make sure we don’t send people to jail,” he said. “Cost is one thing, but you have the human cost as well. Drug court is to help them stay out of jail as a diversion program. It’s sort of their last chance, though. If they don’t come into drug court and do a whole lot more, sometimes they go on to prison. We want to avoid that.”
Drug court participants receive intensive treatment and other services for a minimum of 18 months for felony cases and 15 months for misdemeanor cases. There are frequent court appearances, drug testing, counseling and individual and group sessions.
“Some individuals will be in the program longer if they have issues, especially early on, which may set them back a little bit,” stated Maynard. “We never demote anybody. We work with them and try to solve their problems.”
Successful completion of the program results in the dismissal of criminal charges, reduced or set‐aside sentences, lesser penalties or a combination of these. Most important, graduating participants gain the necessary tools to rebuild their lives.
“We know that incentivizing behavior is a lot better than punishing someone,” noted Maynard.
The target population for the program is high-risk and high-needs individuals, those who have lost everything to drugs: their homes, families, jobs and reputation.
Participants complete five phases of the program.
Phases I, II and III participants appear in court every two weeks, while those in phases IV and V appear once a month.
Phase I participants must have drug tests twice a week, meet with Maynard once per week, and attend weekly counseling and group meetings.
“They do three groups and an individual per week,” said Maynard. “The counseling is a combination of substance abuse counseling and mental health counseling.”
Phase I participants also have a 9 p.m. curfew.
“We curfew check to make sure they’re at home.”
Maynard meets with participants individually in his office upstairs in the courthouse in Inez. He conducts peer support sessions in a meeting room in the courthouse.
“For people who don’t have structure, this is to get them really involved,” he said.
When participants reach phase II, they must get a job and work 20 hours per week. Those who cannot find a job must apply for jobs. Maynard counts each job application as one hour of work.
“Everyone who has done this has gotten a job,” remarked Maynard.
These individuals can also do community service.
“This helps build community trust,” Maynard noted.
The court connects participants with peer support specialists who can assist with resumes, transportation to and from job interviews and other resources to help them overcome barriers.
“A lot of people in phases IV and V are working,” said Maynard. “I have to brag on Martin County. We have a program here that is the best in the state. We consistently have people employed and working.”
The court works with substance abuse providers such as Addiction Recovery Care, Ohio Valley Physicians and Horizon Recovery.
“A lot of them provide [medication assisted treatment], which is suboxone,” Maynard explained. “There’s a lot of negative stigma around suboxone, but I used to have it myself. Suboxone, if used properly and used medically, is a great tool for recovery. It helps reduce harm and overdoses early on.”
Kiwanis president and Martin County Attorney Melissa Phelps joined the conversation, saying drug court is part of a person’s sentence.
“Instead of jail, we want to fix the underlying problem and try to help them,” Phelps said. “So we refer them to drug court and give them an opportunity to successfully complete that and get their lives back on track.”
The court refers participants to the program, which is voluntary.
Answering questions posed by Kiwanis Club members, Phelps said the court refers individuals to residential treatment if they relapse.
“Then they come back to drug court and start again,” she added. “A lot of the people do really well as long as they’re being held accountable.”
A lot of individuals who are eligible for drug court “have burned their bridges,” Phelps said. “They have no one at this point. We are their support system and we try to help them. It’s a struggle and it’s a process.”
Phelps pointed out that drug court offers individualized treatment.
“We’ve helped people get into a stable living environment, get vehicles to get themselves back and forth, get jobs and take care of themselves,” she said. “Getting a driver’s license back is a big deal for some of them. They’ve been driving illegally for years and have gotten themselves into such a mess that it takes forever to get it back. They pay their child support and work on getting back with their children and getting that relationship established.”
She added, “It’s not a mass production; it’s one-on-one. We get to know them, figure out what’s going on and keep them moving forward. That’s why I like drug court better than just sending people to rehab. You really get that almost two years with them to really help stabilize them.”
Maynard defined addiction as “a brain disease demonstrated by a failure to refrain from behavior despite attempts to do so or a complaint by a person that a behavior is out of his or her control.” He said behavior modification is the way to recovery.
Maynard entered drug court as a participant in 2006 and graduated in 2008. He became addicted to opioids after sustaining injuries in a car accident.
“That started a vicious cycle of bad choices,” he said.
After 20 years of addiction, the justice system offered Maynard the option of drug court and he took the offer.
“It can happen to anyone,” he said. “These are daughters, sons, doctors, highly esteemed people. It’s not because they come from a bad family. It’s because they made the initial choice to use, but then the brain took over. That’s how addiction works. We want to quit. I quit a thousand times, but I couldn’t do it. Drug court gave me a lot of tools.”
Following 10 years of sobriety, Maynard returned to college, graduated, and got a job working for drug court.
He encourages employers to hire people in recovery.
“Recovery is hard work,” he said. “Statistically, people in recovery are better workers. They’re more determined; they’ve got something to prove to people. Never be afraid to have someone in recovery work for you.”
In closing, Maynard announced that nine people would graduate from drug court Tuesday (May 28) in a ceremony in Inez.