By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
managing editor
HUNTINGTON — In the wake of the successful establishment of a separate drug court for juveniles two years ago, Cabell County Family Court Judge Patricia Keller, formerly of Keyser, will also be presiding over drug court for adults when the new system gets underway in approximately two weeks.
Keller, who is one of Cabell County's two Family Court judges, told the News-Tribune via telephone Wednesday that she is pleased with the success of Juvenile Drug Court and looks forward to begin working with the adults.
“We were the first to have Juvenile Drug Court,” she says, noting that, while the regular court system can often seem like “a pretty adversarial process,” Drug Court is more of a rehabilitative process through which officials try to help the victim restart his or her life.
“With drug court, you work as a team,” she said, explaining that the public defender's office, the prosecutor's office, a mental health counselor certified in addictions counseling, the probation office and the judge work together to see that the defendant gets the counseling, training and education needed to put his drug-riddled past behind him.
“We sit down every week and see how the people have been doing,” she said, noting that the participants are subjected to a “real intensive supervision” when they start out.
Once they begin to successfully progress through the program, however, the supervision begins to lessen by phases until the person has successfully completed the program — usually within a 10-week time frame.
Goals of the program are for the subject to stay off drugs, live a crime-free life, return to school or get his or her GED, and eventually pay back any court costs or make restitution if there were any victims of the crime.
Once a juvenile graduates from the
program, he is allowed to withdraw his guilty plea to the charges filed against him and the petition is dismissed.
In the case of adult offenders, they will additionally be required to obtain employment, unless they return to school. Ultimately, they will be returned to the community as productive members of society.
Keller emphasizes that Drug Court is open only to non-violent offenders.
“If there was a weapon involved or if there was any violence to a child or another adult, they are not eligible,” she said.
She is proud of the success of the program thus far with the juveniles in the county. In the two years that Juvenile Drug Court has been in place, 14 juveniles have graduated from the system. Two returned to graduate high school, and four received their GED.
“We've had kids who would not have graduated from high school were it not for this program,” Keller said.
Only two who went through the program found themselves back in the court system.
“Neither of them was for drug or drug-related charges,” she adds.
Although Cabell County celebrated the launch of Adult Drug Court on Aug. 13, when Gov. Joe Manchin was in town, they won't start taking their first cases until the beginning of September.
Once Adult Drug court gets underway, they will be only the sixth such court to be established in West Virginia.
Keller, a graduate of Keyser High School, is the daughter of Dick and Doris Jean Keller of Keyser.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. —
