By: 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.