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Treatment Courts

The following courts fall under the Treatment Court umbrella:
Adult Drug Courts, DWI Courts, Family Dependency Treatment Court, Juvenile Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and Veterans Court.

Treatment Court is a common term for drug courts. Treatment Courts represent a shift in the way courts are handling certain offenders and working with key stakeholders in the justice system. In this approach, the court works closely with prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers, social workers, and other justice system partners to develop a strategy that will pressure an offender into completing a treatment program and abstaining from repeating the behaviors that brought them to court.

Treatment courts are the single most successful intervention in our nation's history for leading people living with substance use and mental health disorders out of the justice system and into lives of recovery and stability. They improve education, employment, housing, and financial stability; and promote family reunification. Instead of viewing addiction as a moral failing, they view it as a disease. Instead of punishment, they offer treatment. Instead of indifference, they show compassion.

Treatment court strategies include regular appearances before a judge, intensive supervision by a probation officer, frequent drug and alcohol testing that is random and individualized, and using immediate sanctions and incentives to reward program compliance and respond to program non-compliance. Research shows that when these strategies are implemented correctly, treatment courts improve public safety and save taxpayer dollars.


Treatment courts stop the vicious cycle of relapse and recidivism by treating substance use and mental health disorders for individuals involved in the criminal justice system. Treatment Court promote recovery through a coordinated, team approach including cooperation and collaboration of judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, probation authorities, coordinators, treatment providers, law enforcement, evaluators, and other ancillary service providers. Evidence-based practices are used in treatment courts to tailor individualized, appropriate services for participants in the program. The goal of treatment courts is to engage individuals in treatment long enough to experience the benefits of treatment in order to end the cycle of recidivism and successfully treat their substance use and mental health disorders that brought them into the criminal justice system.
Key Component #1: Treatment courts integrate alcohol and other drug treatment services with justice system case processing.

Key Component #2: Using a non-adversarial approach, prosecution and defense counsel promote public safety while protecting participants’ due process rights.

Key Component #3: Eligible participants are identified early and promptly placed in the treatment court program.
 
Key Component #4: Treatment courts provide access to a continuum of alcohol and other drug and related treatment and rehabilitation services.
 
Key Component #5: Abstinence is monitored by frequent alcohol and other drug testing.
 
Key Component #6: A coordinated strategy governs treatment court responses to participants’ compliance.
 
Key Component #7: Ongoing judicial interaction with each treatment court participant is essential.
 
Key Component #8: Monitoring and evaluation measure the achievement of program goals and gauge effectiveness.
 
Key Component #9: Continuing interdisciplinary education promotes effective treatment court planning, implementation, and operations.
 
Key Component #10: Forging partnerships among treatment courts, public agencies, and community-based organizations generates local support and enhances drug court effectiveness.
The following courts fall under the Treatment Court umbrella:
Adult Drug Courts, DWI Courts, Family Dependency Treatment Court, Juvenile Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and Veterans Court.

Adult Drug Court

Drug courts are an effective problem-solving approach for dealing with alcohol and other drug addicted offenders in the judicial system. Drug courts closely monitor the defendant's progress toward sobriety and recovery through ongoing treatment, frequent drug testing, regular mandatory check-in court appearances, and the use of a range of immediate sanctions and incentives to foster behavior change.

In drug court, judges collaborate with other traditional court participants (prosecutors, defense counsel, treatment providers, probation officers, law enforcement, educational and vocational experts, community leaders and others), whose roles have been substantially modified, but not relinquished, in the interest of helping defendants deal with addiction.

DWI Court

A DWI Court is dedicated to changing the behavior of alcohol and other drug-dependent offenders arrested for driving while impaired. The goal of DWI Court is to protect public safety by using the drug court model to address the root cause of impaired driving, alcohol and other drug problems, with the repeat offender as its primary target population.


Guiding Principles for DWI Courts

Guiding Principle #1: Target the Population

Targeting is the process of identifying a subset of the DWI offender population for inclusion in the DWI court program. This is a complex task given that DWI courts, in comparison to traditional drug court programs, accept only one type of offender: the person who drives while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The DWI court target population, therefore, must be clearly defined, with eligibility criteria clearly documented.
 

Guiding Principle #2: Perform a Clinical Assessment

A clinically competent objective assessment of the impaired-driving offender must address a number of bio-psychosocial domains including alcohol use severity and drug involvement, the level of needed care, medical and mental health status, extent of social support systems, and individual motivation to change. Without clearly identifying a client’s needs, strengths, and resources along each of these important bio-psychosocial domains, the clinician will have considerable difficulty in developing a clinically sound treatment plan.
 

Guiding Principle #3: Develop the Treatment Plan

Substance dependence is a chronic, relapsing condition that can be effectively treated with the right type and length of treatment regimen. In addition to having a substance abuse problem, a significant proportion of the DWI population also suffers from a variety of co-occurring mental health disorders. Therefore, DWI courts must carefully select and implement treatment practices demonstrated through research to be effective with the hard-core impaired driver to ensure long-term success.
 

Guiding Principle #4: Supervise the Offender

Driving while intoxicated presents a significant danger to the public. Increased supervision and monitoring by the court, probation department, and treatment provider must occur as part of a coordinated strategy to intervene with repeat and high-risk DWI offenders and to protect against future impaired driving.
 

Guiding Principle #5: Forge Agency, Organization and Community Partnerships

Partnerships are an essential component of the DWI court model as they enhance credibility, bolster support, and broaden available resources. Because the DWI court model is built on and dependent upon a strong team approach, both within the court and beyond, the court should solicit the cooperation of other agencies, as well as community organizations to form a partnership in support of the goals of the DWI court program.
 

Guiding Principle #6: Take a Judicial Leadership Role

Judges are a vital part of the DWI court team. As leader of this team, the judge’s role is paramount to the success of the Drug court program. The judge must also possess recognizable leadership skills as well as the capability to motivate team members and elicit buy-in from various stakeholders. The selection of the judge to lead the DWI court team, therefore, is of utmost importance.
 

Guiding Principle #7: Develop Case Management Strategies

Case management, the series of inter-related functions that provides for a coordinated team strategy and seamless collaboration across the treatment and justice systems, is essential for an integrated and effective DWI court program.
 

Guiding Principle #8: Address Transportation Issues

Though nearly every state revokes or suspends a person’s driving license upon conviction for a DUI offense, the loss of driving privileges poses a significant issue for those individuals involved in a DWI/Drug Court program. In many cases, the participant solves the transportation problem created by the loss of their driver’s license by driving anyway and taking a chance that he or she will not be caught. With this knowledge, the court must caution the participant against taking such chances in the future and to alter their attitude about driving without a license.
 

Guiding Principle #9: Evaluate the Program

To convince “stakeholders” about the power of DWI court, program designers must design a DWI court evaluation model capable of documenting behavioral change and linking that change to the program’s existence. A credible evaluation is the only mechanism for mapping the road to program success or failure. To prove whether a program is efficient and effective requires the assistance of a competent evaluator, an understanding of and control over all relevant variables that can systematically contribute to behavioral change, and a commitment from the DWI court team to rigorously abide by the rules of the evaluation design.
 

Guiding Principle #10: Create a Sustainable Program

The foundation for sustainability is laid, to a considerable degree, by careful and strategic planning. Such planning includes considerations of structure and scale, organization and participation and, of course, funding. Becoming an integral and proven approach to the DWI problem in the community however is the ultimate key to sustainability. 
 

Family Dependency Treatment Court

Family dependency treatment court is a juvenile or family court docket of which selected abuse, neglect, and dependency cases are identified where parental substance abuse is a primary factor. Judges, attorneys, child protection services, and treatment personnel unite with the goal of providing safe, nurturing, and permanent homes for children while simultaneously providing parents the necessary support and services to become drug and alcohol abstinent. Family dependency treatment courts aid parents in regaining control of their lives and promote long-term stabilized recovery to enhance the possibility of family reunification within mandatory legal timeframes.
 

Juvenile Drug Court

A juvenile drug court is a docket within a juvenile court to which selected delinquency cases, and in some instances status offenders, are referred for handling by a designated judge. The youth referred to this docket are identified as having problems with alcohol and/or other drugs. Over the course of a year or more, the team meets frequently (often weekly), determining how best to address the substance abuse and related problems of the youth and his or her family that have brought the youth into contact with the justice system.
 

Mental Health Court

Modeled after drug courts and developed in response to the over-representation of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system, mental health courts divert select defendants with mental illnesses into judicially supervised, community-based treatment.  Currently, all mental health courts are voluntary.  Defendants are invited to participate in the mental health court following a specialized screening and assessment, and they may choose to decline participation.  For those who agree to the terms and conditions of community-based supervision, a team of court staff and mental health professionals works together to develop treatment plans and supervise participants in the community.
 

Veterans Treatment Court

Veterans Treatment Courts use a hybrid integration of Drug Court and Mental Health Court principles to serve military veterans, and sometimes active-duty personnel. They promote sobriety, recovery, and stability through a coordinated response that involves collaboration with the traditional partners found in Drug Courts and Mental Health Courts, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare networks, Veterans Benefits Administration, State Departments of Veterans Affairs, volunteer veteran mentors, and organizations that support veterans and veterans’ families.
 

Adult Drug Court (20)

Anoka County (2016)
Beltrami County (2019)
Carlton County (2014)
Carver County (2019)
Crow Wing County (2006)
Dakota County (2008)
Eighth Judicial District (2014)
Faribault-Martin-Jackson Counties (2006)
Goodhue County (2019)
Hennepin County (1996)
Mahnomen County-White Earth Nation (2013)
Mille Lacs County (2019)
Morrison County (2014)
Ramsey County (2002)
Rice County (2014)
Roseau County (2017)
Scott County (2016)
St. Louis County - South (2002)
Stearns County (2002)
Wright County (2016)

Drug/Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Hybrid Court (17)

Aitkin County (2006)
Blue Earth County (2005)
Borderland Substance Abuse Court: Koochiching County & Lake of the Woods County (2005)
Brown-Nicollet-Watonwan Counties (2007)
Cottonwood County (2012)
Itasca County - Leech Lake Tribal Court (2007)
Le Sueur County (2015)
Olmsted County (2016)
Pipestone-Murray Counties (2012)
Rice County (2019)
Rock-Nobles Counties (2012)
SHORE Substance Use Recovery Court: Cook County (2016) and Lake County (2019)
Southwest Community Drug Court: Lincoln-Lyon-Redwood Counties (2009)
Steele-Waseca Counties (2014)
St. Louis County - North (2006)
Wabasha County (2005)
Winona County (2012)

Drug/DWI/Family Dependency Hybrid Court (1)

Dodge County (2003)

Juvenile Drug Court (1)

Dakota County (2005)

Family Dependency Treatment Court (3)

Blue Earth County (2008)
Dakota County (2006)
Faribault-Martin-Jackson Counties (2010)

Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) / Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Court (14)

Becker County-White Earth Nation (2015)
Beltrami County (2007)
Cass County-Leech Lake Tribal Court (2006)
Crow Wing County (2008)
Hennepin County (2007)
Mahnomen County-White Earth Nation (2013)
Norman County (2015)
Otter Tail County (2008)
Pennington-Marshall Counties (2012)
Polk County (2015)
Ramsey County (2005)
Red Lake County (2015)
Roseau-Kittson Counties (2008)
St. Louis County-South (2008)

Veterans Treatment Court (8)

Anoka County (2016)
Carver County (2014)
Clay-Becker Counties (2014)
Fifth Judicial District: Blue Earth-Brown-Faribault-Jackson-Martin-Nicollet-Watonwan Counties (2013)
Hennepin County (2010)
Ramsey County (2014)
St. Louis County-South (2018)
Third Judicial District: Dodge-Fillmore-Freeborn-Houston-Mower-Olmsted-Rice-Steele-Wabasha-Waseca-Winona Counties (2019)

Mental Health Court (4)

Hennepin County (2003)
Ramsey County (2005)
South St. Louis County (Duluth) (2013)
North St. Louis County (Iron Range) (2019)

Total Minnesota Treatment Courts: 68


Anoka (Tenth District)

Anoka County Drug Court

Email »

Lacy Greninger, Coordinator

2100 3rd Avenue
Anoka, MN  55303-2489
Phone: (763) 760-6573
Fax:  (763) 712-3247

Anoka County Veterans Court

Email »

Lacy Greninger, Coordinator

2100 3rd Avenue
Anoka, MN  55303-2489
Phone: (763) 760-6573
Fax:  (763) 712-3247

Becker (Seventh District)

Clay-Becker Treatment Court

Email »

Don Kautzmann, Coordinator

913 Lake Avenue
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
Phone: (218) 291-5863
 

Becker / White Earth DWI Court

Email »

Tria Mann, Coordinator

913 Lake Avenue
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
Phone: (218) 998-8460
Fax: (218) 998-8438
 

Clay-Becker Treatment Court

Email »

Don Kautzmann, Coordinator

913 Lake Avenue
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
Phone: (218) 291-5863

Beltrami (Ninth District)

Beltrami County Drug Court

Email »

Krista Smith, Coordinator

600 Minnesota Avenue NW, Suite 108
Bemidji, MN 56601
(218) 333-4120
 

Beltrami County Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Court

Email »

Krista Smith, Coordinator

600 Minnesota Avenue NW, Suite 108
Bemidji, MN 56001
(218) 333-4120​

Blue Earth (Fifth District)

Blue Earth County Hybrid Drug Court

Email »

Kevin Mettler, Coordinator

 

401 Carver Road
Mankato, MN  56002

Phone: (507) 469-5518
Fax: (507) 304-4710 

 

Blue Earth Family Dependency Treatment Court (FDTC)

Kevin Mettler, Coordinator

 

401 Carver Road
Mankato, MN  56002
Phone: (507) 469-5518
Fax: (507) 304-4710 

Brown (Fifth District)

Brown County Treatment Court

Email »

Megan Kjolsing, Coordinator

14 S. State Street
New Ulm, MN 56073
Phone: (507) 934-7190

Carlton (Sixth District)

Carlton County Drug Court

Email »

Vacant, Treatment Court Coordinator

301 Walnut Avenue
Carlton, MN 55718
(218) 720-1535

 

Cass (Ninth District)

Cass County Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Joint Jurisdiction Wellness Court

Email »

Shirley Smith, Coordinator

 

303 Minnesota Avenue
Walker, MN 56484
Phone: (218) 547-7237

Cass County/Leech Lake Wellness Court

Shirley Smith, Coordinator

303 Minnesota Avenue
Walker, MN 56484
(218) 547-7237

Chippewa (Eighth District)

Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court - South

Email »

Karon I. White, Coordinator

629 North 11th Street
Montevideo, MN 56265
Phone: (320) 208-6647

Cottonwood (Fifth District)

Cottonwood Adult Drug Court

Email »

Heather Kirchner, Coordinator

900 3rd Avenue
Windom, MN 56101
Phone: (507) 295-1019

Faribault (Fifth District)

Faribault-Martin-Jackson Multi-County Adult Substance Abuse Court

Email »

Tracy Henning, Coordinator

201 Lake Avenue
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: (507) 381-3749

Faribault-Martin-Jackson Family Dependency Treatment Court

Email »

Tracy Henning, Coordinator

201 Lake Avenue
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: (507) 381-3749

Grant (Eighth District)

Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court - North

Email »

Karon I. White, Coordinator

400 Colorado Avenue
Morris, MN 56267
Phone: (320) 208-6647

Hennepin (Fourth District)

Hennepin County Drug Court

Email »

Lisa Keller, Program Coordinator


300 South Sixth Street
Minneapolis, MN  55487
Phone: (612) 348-9265

Hennepin County DWI Court

Email »

Lisa Keller, Program Coordinator


300 South Sixth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55487
Phone: (612) 348-9265
 

Hennepin County Veterans Treatment Court

Email »

Shayla Russel, Coordinator
 

300 South Sixth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55487
 

Hennepin County Mental Health Court

Email »

Shayla Russel, Coordinator
 

300 South Sixth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55487

 

 

Itasca (Ninth District)

Itasca County Wellness Court

Email »

Tiffani Ott, Coordinator

123 NE 4th Street
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
Phone (218) 391-9909
 

Itasca County Wellness Court

Email »

Tiffani Ott, Coordinator

123 NE 4th Street
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
Phone: (218) 391-9909

Jackson (Fifth District)

Faribault-Martin-Jackson Multi-County Adult Substance Abuse Court

Email »

Tracy Henning, Coordinator

201 Lake Avenue
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: (507) 381-3749

Faribault-Martin-Jackson Family Dependency Treatment Court

Email »

Tracy Henning, Coordinator

201 Lake Avenue
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: (507) 381-3749

Kandiyohi (Eighth District)

Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court - Central

Email »

Karon I. White, Coordinator

505 Becker Avenue
Willmar, MN 56201
Phone: (320) 208-6647

Koochiching (Ninth District)

Borderland Substance Abuse Court - Koochiching County

Email »

Amanda Zortman, Coordinator

715 4th Street
International Falls, MN  56649
Phone: (218) 283-1118

Lake of the Woods (Ninth District)

Borderland Substance Abuse Court - Lake of the Woods County

Email »

Amanda Zortman, Coordinator

206 8th Avenue SE
Baudette, MN 56623
Phone: (218) 283-1118
 

Lincoln (Fifth District)

Southwest Community Adult Treatment Court: Lincoln County

Email »

Grady Holtberg, Coordinator

607 West Main Street
Marshall, MN 56258
Phone: (507) 401-5062

Lyon (Fifth District)

Southwest Community Adult Treatment Court: Lyon County

Email »

Grady Holtberg, Coordinator

607 West Main Street
Marshall, MN 56258
Phone: (507) 401-5062

Mahnomen (Ninth District)

Mahnomen-White Earth Nation Drug Court

Email »

Lori Thompson, Coordinator

311 North Main Street,
Mahnomen, MN 56557
Phone: (218) 983-4648
 

Mahnomen-White Earth DWI Court

Email »

Tria Mann, Coordinator

311 N. Main
Mahnomen, MN 56557
Phone: (218) 998-8460

Mahnomen-White Earth Nation Drug Court

Email »

Lori Thompson, Coordinator

311 N. Main Street
Mahnomen, MN  56557
Phone: (218) 983-4648

Marshall (Ninth District)

Marshall County DWI/DUI Court

Email »

Allie O'Leary, Coordinator

208 East Colvin Avenue
Warren, MN 56762
Phone: (763) 568-4309
 

Martin (Fifth District)

Faribault-Martin-Jackson Multi-County Adult Substance Abuse Court

Email »

Tracy Henning, Coordinator

201 Lake Avenue
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: (507) 381-3749

Faribault-Martin-Jackson Family Dependency Treatment Court

Email »

Tracy Henning, Coordinator

201 Lake Avenue
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: (507) 381-3749
 

Meeker (Eighth District)

Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court - Central

Email »

Karon I. White, Coordinator

505 Becker Avenue Southwest, #100
Willmar, MN 56201
Phone: (320) 208-6647

Morrison (Seventh District)

Morrison County Adult Drug Court

Email »

Shelly Trane, Treatment Coordinator

213 SE 1st Avenue
Little Falls, MN  56345
Phone: (320) 631-0833

Murray (Fifth District)

Pipestone-Murray Adult Drug Court

Email »

Heather Kirchner, Coordinator

2500 28th Street
Slayton, MN 56172
Phone: (507) 295-1019

Nicollet (Fifth District)

Nicollet County Treatment Court

Email »

Megan Kjolsing, Coordinator

501 South Minnesota Avenue
St. Peter, MN 56082
Phone: (507) 934-7190

Nobles (Fifth District)

Nobles County Drug/DWI Hybrid Court

Email »

Heather Kirchner, Coordinator

1530 Airport Road
Worthington, MN 56187
Phone: (507) 295-1019

Norman (Ninth District)

Norman County DWI/DUI Court

Email »

Allie O'Leary, Coordinator

16 3rd Avenue East
Ada, MN 56510
Phone: (763) 568-4309

 

Otter Tail (Seventh District)

Otter Tail County DWI Court

Email »

Tria Mann, DWI Court Coordinator
 

121 West Junius Ave.
Fergus Falls, MN  56537
Phone: (218) 998-8460
 

Pennington (Ninth District)

Penning County DWI/DUI Court

Email »

Allie O'Leary, Coordinator

141 Main Ave S
Thief River Falls, MN 56701
Phone: (218) 684-7029
 

Pipestone (Fifth District)

Pipestone-Murray Adult Drug Court

Email »

Heather Kirchner, Coordinator

416 South Hiawatha Avenue
Pipestone, MN 56164
Phone: (507) 295-1019

Polk (Ninth District)

Polk County DWI/DUI Court

Email »

Allie O'Leary, Coordinator

141 Main Ave S
Thief River Falls, MN 56701
Phone: (218) 684-7029

 

Ramsey (Second District)

Ramsey County Adult Substance Abuse Court

Email »

Tanya Jones, Treatment Coordinator


15 Kellogg Boulevard West
St. Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 266-9277
 

 

DWI Court

Email »

Tanya Jones, Treatment Coordinator


15 Kellogg Boulevard West
St. Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 266-9277

Ramsey County Veterans Treatment Court

Email »

Linda Saathoff, Coordinator
 

15 Kellogg Boulevard West
St. Paul, MN  55102
Phone: (651) 266-9254

 

Ramsey County Mental Health Court

Email »

Linda Saathoff, Coordinator
 

15 Kellogg Boulevard West
St. Paul, MN  55102
Phone: (651) 266-9254

 

Red Lake (Ninth District)

Red Lake Falls County DWI/DUI Court

Email »

Allie O'Leary, Court Coordinator

124 Langevin Avenue NW
Red Lake Falls, MN 56750
Phone: (218) 684-7029

 

Redwood (Fifth District)

Southwest Community Adult Treatment Court: Redwood County and Lower Sioux Indian Community

Email »

Grady Holtberg, Coordinator

250 South Jefferson Street
Redwood Falls, MN 56283
Phone: (507) 401-5062

Rice (Third District)

Rice County Treatment Court

Email »

Susan Hence, Coordinator

20 Third Street NW
Faribault, MN 55021
Phone: (507) 333-3703

Third Judicial District Veterans Treatment Court

Email »

Preston Sellect, Coordinator


411 South Broadway
Albert Lea, MN 56007
Phone: (507) 383-2936

Rock (Fifth District)

Rock-Nobles Adult Drug Court

Email »

Heather Kirchner, Coordinator

1530 Airport Road
Worthington, MN 56187
Phone: (507) 295-1019

Scott (First District)

Scott County Treatment Court

Email »

Heidi Kastama, Coordinator

200 4th Avenue West
Shakopee, MN  55379
Phone: (952) 496-8373

St. Louis Duluth (Sixth District)

South St. Louis County DWI Court

Rachael Barta, Coordinator

100 North 5th Avenue West, Suite 320
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 720-1547

South St. Louis County Mental Health Court

Elizabeth Henderson, Coordinator

100 North 5th Avenue West, Suite 320
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 726-2464

St. Louis Virginia (Sixth District)

St. Louis County - North Hybrid Treatment Court

Email »

Aleesha Ward, Coordinator

100 North 5th Avenue West, Suite 320
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 471-7223

St. Louis County - North Mental Health Court

Email »

Aleesha Ward, Coordinator

100 North 5th Avenue West, Suite 320
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 471-7223

Stearns (Seventh District)

Stearns County Adult Drug Court

Email »

Shelly Trane, Coordinator

725 Courthouse Square, #406
St. Cloud, MN 56301
Phone: (320) 656-6364
 

Stevens (Eighth District)

Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court - North

Email »

Karon I. White, Coordinator

400 Colorado Avenue
Morris, MN 56267
Phone: (320) 208-6647

Traverse (Eighth District)

Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court - North

Email »

Karon I. White, Coordinator

400 Colorado Avenue
Morris, MN 56267
Phone: (320) 208-6647

Watonwan (Fifth District)

Watonwan County Treatment Court

Email »

Megan Kjolsing, Coordinator

710 2nd Avenue South
St. James, MN 56081

Phone: (507) 934-7190

Wilkin (Eighth District)

Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court - North

Email »

Karon I. White, Coordinator

400 Colorado Avenue
Morris, MN 56267
Phone: (320) 208-6647

Wright (Tenth District)

Wright County Adult Drug Court

Email »

Maria Taylor, Coordinator

102nd St NW 
Buffalo, MN 55313
Phone: (763) 682-7862

Minnesota Drug Court Research & Presentations

The Minnesota Statewide Adult Drug Court Evaluation, a two-and-a-half-year study, compared 644 non-participants to 535 participants from 16 drug court programs covering 23 counties. The two groups were matched on key characteristics including criminal history, chemical dependency status, and key demographics. The study was produced by the Minnesota Judicial Branch State Court Administrator’s Office.

Minnesota Statewide Drug Court Evaluation
  • Follow Up (2014) Report (PDF)
Minnesota Statewide Drug Court Evaluation (2012) Drug Court Team Member Surveys Drug Court Conference Plenary Part II: Minnesota Statewide Drug Court Evaluation: Overview, Progress, and Preliminary Analysis (2011)

Minnesota Judicial Branch, State Court Administrator's Office Presentation (PowerPoint)

Use of Cost-Effective Evidence-Based Practices in Minnesota (2011)

National Drug Court Research & Presentations

Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards (2013) Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards (2015) Further Analysis of Best Practices in Drug Courts (2012) NPC Research
Minnesota DWI Courts: A Summary of Evaluation Findings in Nine DWI Court Programs (PDF)

Since 2012, there have been three major studies released of Minnesota’s drug courts:
 

2012 Drug Court Evaluation:

In 2012, the Minnesota Judicial Branch released the first comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of Minnesota’s drug courts. The groundbreaking study, which compared 535 drug court participants to similar offenders who experienced traditional court processes over two-and-a-half years, found that drug courts:
  • Significantly reduced recidivism;
  • Reduced incarceration and related costs for drug court participants; and
  • Improved what the study called, “community functioning measures” for drug court participants. Specific improvements:
    • Unemployment dropped from 62 percent at drug court entry to 37 percent at drug court discharge for all participants – including those who did not graduate.
    • The unemployment rate for participants who graduated from a drug court program dropped from about 50 percent at entry to less than 15 percent at graduation.
    • Twenty percent of graduates raised their highest educational attainment during their time in the drug court program.
    • Almost three-fourths of graduates who were not compliant with their obligation to pay child support at the beginning of their drug court participation were compliant upon completion.
2014 Drug Court Evaluation:
The 2012 drug court evaluation showed the real impact that Minnesota’s drug courts were having on some of the most high-risk drug offenders in the state. At that time, it was decided that continued monitoring of the progress of these drug court participants was in order to learn whether the improved outcomes were sustainable in the long-term.
 
Thanks to this continued evaluation, for an additional year-and-a-half, the long-lasting impact drug courts have on the lives of participants, and the real benefits drug courts provide to Minnesota communities, are now available.
  • Drug Court participants continue to have a significantly lower rate of recidivism: Comparing offenders who spent similar amounts of time outside of incarceration (“at-risk time”) during the evaluation period, the new study shows drug court participants consistently had significantly lower recidivism rates. For example, among those offenders who reached four years of “at-risk time” during the evaluation, 28 percent of drug court participants had received a new conviction, compared to 41 percent of non-drug court participants.
  • Drug Court participants also spent fewer days incarcerated: Drug court participants spent, on average, 74 fewer days incarcerated in jail or prison compared to similar offenders during the four-year evaluation period. The average cost savings for each drug court participant was $4,288 as a result of this reduced incarceration.

2014 DWI Court Evaluation:

Nine existing DWI courts were evaluated in this study funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The study showed that:
  • DWI courts reduce recidivism: DWI court graduates (those who completed a DWI court program) had lower re-arrest rates compared to DWI offenders who experienced traditional court processes at eight out of the nine DWI courts included in the evaluation. The reduction in re-arrest rates ranged from 31 percent to 78 percent among graduates of these programs.
  • Minnesota DWI courts have completion rates well above the national average: The nine DWI courts included in the evaluation had completion rates ranging from 65 percent to 86 percent; well above the national average of 53 percent for drug and DWI court programs. In addition, these completion rates are at least double the national completion rate (35 percent) for intensive, non-court-monitored outpatient treatment. According to the evaluation, “this indicates that the court monitoring component in DWI courts may well lead to participants staying in the program longer, and to higher completion rates.”
  • DWI courts save taxpayer money: Six of the seven programs that were included in a cost analysis showed cost savings due to reduced recidivism for DWI court participants. The average cost savings to local agencies and the state in these six programs ranged from $1,694 to $11,386 per participant over two years.
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