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April 5th, 2010Drug Court Graduates Are Eager for Future
October 19th, 2009By: Tim Schmidt, Record Editor
05/14/2009
Jared Taylor wanted to run as far away as he could.
Following an altercation at a wedding, Taylor packed up and left. As a participant in the drug court program, he thought his chance of restarting his life was erased the minute the last punch was thrown.
Thanks to daily phone calls from Christy Becker-Markovich, 12th Judicial Circuit Drug Court administrator, Taylor returned to the area. He found officials ready to welcome him back with open arms, but only if he was prepared to complete all the tasks laid out in the program.
“By the grace of God, they gave me a second chance,” Taylor said.
For most participants, the drug court program takes 18 months to complete.
For Taylor, including his three-month absence when he ran away, he spent nearly four years following the numerous guidelines.
Multiple times Taylor was well within a month of graduating from drug court.
Finally last Wednesday, he completed all of the requirements.
Taylor, 28, was joined at last Wednesday’s graduation ceremony by Keith Schwoeppe, 25, and Billy Collier, 32. All three were eager to see their past charges go up in flames. Drug court, they agreed, gave them a second chance to continue their lives. All three county residents completed strict guidelines such as meeting weekly with drug court officials and constantly being examined to make sure they were sober and drug free.
Drug court participants must follow strict guidelines through the 18-month program, including weekly court and counseling sessions, contacting officials every morning, obeying a nightly curfew and performing a minimum of 40 hours of community service.
They must submit to drug tests when requested and cannot leave the county without permission.
“We’re asking you to practice perfect in your own backyard,” Becker-Markovich told the graduates and other participants in attendance. “We’re asking you to play perfect when you’re not around. We are truly blessed to have all three of you here.”
When the court system allowed Taylor to re-enter the program, he said he looked in the direction of Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wright and acknowledged he wasn’t going to let this opportunity get away from him. “I want to help others and tell them they can make it and succeed in this,” Taylor said. “You have to be powerless, give it all up and move on. It does work.”
Similar to Taylor, Schwoeppe took a harder path than some participants. Over a year ago, he had a relapse and entered an alcohol treatment center for a month.
“I realized I was going nowhere fast,” Schwoeppe said. “Anything you can think of I tried to get away with.”
Court officials said they were blown away by Schwoeppe’s growth as a person from the time he began the program. They said it was common for him to quietly enter meetings without speaking much. Now, they said, he confidently converses without any hesitation.
“My personality has changed completely,” said Schwoeppe, who said he might go to school to learn to work on high-performance engines.
“I went from not really caring about anything in life to caring about the community, helping out with anything I can,” he said.
Unlike the two other graduates, Collier completed the program without any sanctions. He admitted he needed help well before he got in trouble, but making matters worse, he was arrested in 2007, a day before he got married and nearly three years since he committed the crime. Despite the early difficulties, his wife stood by his side the entire time.
“She wanted the change,” Collier said. “I wanted drug court.”
Of the 53 people who have participated in the drug court program since it was implemented in Warren County in 2001, 15 have graduated compared to only 13 who have been terminated. Of the graduates, only two have been convicted on new charges, according to Becker-Markovich.
Carla Tanzy, drug court commissioner, praised participants for turning around their lives.
“You are all proof that drug court works,” she said. “Everyone can see that success. It takes hugs, it takes tough love.
“This is the first day of the rest of your life,” she said.
At the end of last Wednesday’s ceremony, attendees went outside the school and released balloons into the sky to recognize May as National Drug Court Month.
Drug Court Graduate: I Can Be Anything I Want to Be
October 19th, 2009By: Tim Schmidt
12/26/2008
Melissa Sherman has her life back.
A 1998 graduate of St. Dominic High School and 2000 St. Charles Community College graduate, last week’s graduating ceremony had a very different meaning than the previous ones for the Wright City resident.
No longer is Sherman classified as a drug user. Instead, she is a single mom of a 5-year-old son with a full-time job and a future full of promise. The alternative was a future locked away.
“I had thoughts where I wasn’t sure if I would make it,” said Sherman following her Drug Court graduation at the Warren County Courthouse Dec. 17. “The team had a lot of support for me. I had a lot of family support, too.”
Drug Court is designed to give offenders a second chance and erase past convictions. But in order to graduate, participants face extra scrutiny and an 18-month program structured to keep them clean.
Participants must attend weekly court appearances and counseling sessions, contact Drug Court officials every morning between 5:30 and 7:30 a.m., obey a 10 p.m. curfew, not leave the county without permission and perform a minimum of 40 hours of community service.
They also must submit to drug tests whenever they’re asked.
Keynote speaker at last week’s graduating ceremony, Missouri Supreme Court Judge William Ray Price Jr., said that more than 7,000 people in the state have graduated from Drug Court since the program was started 15 years ago. Of the ones who graduate, 90 percent never get into trouble again.
Currently, the state has 115 Drug Court programs which help reduce the prison populations and soften the blow for taxpayers. Price said it costs around $12,000 to incarcerate an individual compared to $2,000 to place them in Drug Court.
Unlike prison, Drug Court works.
“If their problem with drugs and alcohol is not cured, they never make it out of prison,” Price said. “If you don’t cure the addiction, you are looking at a life with a few brief vacations.”
Sherman said she began using drugs around 2000 while enrolled in college. Described as “being around the wrong people, places and things,” Sherman was hooked.
She then began to drift away family and friends.
“I pretty much lost everything,” Sherman said. “It was really tough.” By all accounts, Sherman excelled in ways no one else has since the program was implemented locally in 2002. Her current parole officer Jason Obermark said she never violated any requirement. In fact, she was never late for any type of Drug Court activity.
From Obermark to Associate Circuit Judge Wes Dalton to Bridgeway counselor Annalee Hastie-Plumb to Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Kate Busch, everyone marveled at Sherman’s commitment and dedication to the program.
“She never let me down,” Dalton told the crowd. “She never let the team down. I can’t tell you how proud I am of everything you’ve done.” “You are truly an inspiration,” Busch added.
Christie Becker-Markovich, 12th Judicial Circuit Court drug administrator, remembered when she was Sherman’s parole officer. She described Sherman as a timid and lost individual, unsure about where her life was headed.
“I didn’t know what she wanted to be,” Becker-Markovich said. “But from Day 1, she wanted more for her and her son. That became her passion.”
Near the end of the ceremony, Sherman’s past went up in smoke. With her charges for felony drug possession rolled up, she placed the piece of paper in a candle and held it proudly as flames lit the end. Sherman beamed as she watched.
“It was awesome,” she said. “It was probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”
Afterward, Sherman embraced each of her family members and friends who came to support her positive lifestyle change. Sherman’s biggest hugs, though, were saved for her son and parents.
Finally, after years of running away from the truth, a second opportunity awaited her.
Melissa Sherman can again be herself.
“I can be anything I want to be,” she said. “I can do anything I want to do.”
Judge Honored for Drug Court Vision
October 19th, 2009By: Tim Schmidt, Record Editor
08/13/2009
Time and time again, Keith Sutherland has seen the same faces enter his courtroom only to revisit in the future.
“You just recycle the same people and drug problems,” said Sutherland, 12th Judicial Court presiding judge. “It goes around and around. You send them into the penitentiary and they get worse.”
Thanks to his interest, a stringent Drug Court program was implemented in Warren County in 2002 to help detour criminals from being placed on future court dockets.
While the court docket isn’t getting any shorter due to the spike in crimes, Sutherland is seeing criminals take hold of a second chance to stay clear from a future spent behind bars. Hopefully, he said, the cycle is being broken. “It’s treatment for your entire life,” he said.
A surprised Sutherland was recognized last Thursday at the Drug Court graduation ceremony held at the Audrain County Courthouse in Mexico. He received the Award of Excellence for his involvement and commitment to having the program applied here locally.
The presentation was made by Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wright, who recalled first meeting with Sutherland 10 years ago when the program was initially discussed about being implemented here.
As a prosecutor, Wright was skeptical about dismissing charges against criminals.
“I may not have been the biggest opponent, but I can assure you I was the most vocal,” he remarked. “I was a big thorn in his side.”
Since then, the strict guidelines have helped tone down his concerns about the program. Criminals are recommended to the Drug Court program by Wright.
“We owe him (Sutherland) a debt of gratitude,” he said. “We would not be here today without this man’s dedication and vision.”
Drug Court participants must follow numerous guidelines through the minimum 18-month program, including attending weekly court and counseling sessions, contacting officials every morning, obeying a nightly curfew and performing a minimum 40 hours of community service.
Participants also must submit to drug tests when requested and cannot leave the county without permission.
“Some need the push,” Sutherland said. “Drug Court is the incentive to turn their life around. The ones that want to do it will do it and have done it.”
Sutherland was quick to deflect the praise to others who are keeping the program prosperous.
“It was a shock,” he said about last week’s surprise award. “I didn’t do all the work. It was all of the original Drug Court team and their replacements. They are all the ones doing all the work.”
Others, however, said it was Sutherland’s interest in the program that has led it to prosper. Since 2002, 15 have graduated from the local Drug Court program compared to 13 who have been terminated.
Of the graduates, only two have been convicted on new charges. The program also has been successful in neighboring Montgomery and Audrain counties. For many, those figures show that the program is opening a door for past criminals who want to turn their life around.
“Judge Sutherland saw that many individuals had potential to be successful community members instead of inmates if not for their addiction and began looking for alternative solutions,” said Christie Becker-Markovich, 12th Judicial Circuit Court administrator.
“His efforts brought the required agencies and elected officials together to begin the creation of the circuit drug court program,” she said. “If not for his determination, this much needed and highly successful program would not have been available for the individuals within this community.”
Testimonials
August 17th, 2009Here’s what Drug Court participants have to say:
“It has literally saved my life.”
