Public Notice Detail
Senator Wellstone Featured Guest as Drug Court Honors Award Recipients
Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2000
“What is significant about the Drug Court is how it has integrated and balanced enforcement with intervention; efficiency with justice; incarceration with treatment,” said Senator Wellstone. “This is a noble effort which is successful. And the people we are honoring today are the people who have made this approach successful. They are the people who everyday balance so effectively the competing demands.”
Judge Burke, director and presiding judge of Hennepin County’s Drug Court agreed. “Effectively handling all the drug offenders in Hennepin County against the backdrop of increased volume and limited resources is a daunting task. The individuals and groups we honor today have accepted the challenge and made Drug Court an effective tool for curbing crime and changing lives.”
“These individuals and organizations are very deserving of this honor because of their hard work and dedication,” said County Attorney Amy Klobuchar. “Public safety is served every time a drug offender successfully recovers from addiction and moves on to a productive, law-abiding life.”
Today’s Distinguished Service Awards recognized individuals and organizations from several disciplines within the Drug Court project. The individuals who were honored are:
Joe Brown – is employed by the Hennepin County Department of Training and Employment Assistance. He has been with Drug Court for the past two years, providing assistance in both employment/training as well as providing information and referrals for housing services. Joe has also been instrumental in establishing GED/Adult Basic Education (ABE) services, parent education and the Employment Action Center for Fathers program.
Jerdis Cerney – is a licensed classroom teacher, employed by the Minneapolis Public Schools Continuing Education Department. She has provided ABE/GED preparation services for Drug Court clients for the past one and a half years. She has helped develop the program to its current level of about 15 learners per day.
Referee Margaret Daly – has served as a Judicial Officer since 1993. She has worked in Drug Court for the past two years. She has provided judicial supervision for several hundred defendants in Drug Court. She has also served in Family Court.
John Dow – is employed by African American Family Services as the outpatient men’s and women’s treatment coordinator. He has been associated with the Drug Court for the last 3 years, and previously worked at Turning Point, another chemical health treatment provider.
Don Mackey – is a Chemical Health Assessor with Hennepin County Adult Services. He has worked in the chemical health and recovery field for nearly 20 years. He currently provides chemical health assessments for criminal justice clients in service to Drug Court and clients held in custody.
Missy Mus – coordinates transportation services at West Metro Recovery Services. She has been working with the Drug Court for past year and a half, providing transportation from court to the 15 participating chemical dependency treatment programs.
Berton Olson – is a Probation Officer with Hennepin County Community Corrections. He has worked with the Drug Court project since its inception. He started his work in the drug testing facility and was promoted to a Probation Officer position two years ago.
The organizations that were honored are:
West Metro Recovery Services – provides outpatient chemical dependency treatment services for Drug Court clients. In addition, the organization provides transportation and sober housing services along with a host of relapse prevention and other aftercare related services. West Metro has been a partner since Drug Court started in 1997 and has served an estimated 500 Drug Court clients.
Hennepin County Public Defenders Office – has provided invaluable assistance in the planning and implementation of Drug Court. They have been instrumental in the development of the overall Drug Court program and specifically in connecting with communities of color. The office represents an estimated 90 percent of Drug Court defendants.
National statistics show that substance abuse is a factor in 80 percent of all criminal cases entering the courts each year. In its nearly three years of operation, Hennepin County’s Drug Court has served over 5,000 felony drug offenders. Primary features of Drug Court include early and intensive intervention, required full-time employment and treatment, and greater accountability by requiring defendants to regularly appear in court. Cost savings have been achieved by a reduction in the time from arrest to first appearance and decreased total case disposition time.
The National Association of Drug Court Professionals has said Hennepin County’s Drug Court is one of the top five drug court systems in the nation, becoming a model for other states as the approach has gained acceptance nationwide in effectively handling substance offenders.