Life Saving Awards and Drug Court Presentations Kick Off Board of Supervisors Meeting
Monday, February 24th, 2020 -- 1:08 PM
-A presentation of Life Saving Awards has held at the beginning of the Clark County Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday of last week.Four employees with the Clark County Sheriff’s Department received Life Saving Awards for their recent efforts in saving the life of a man in need. The employees receiving the award included Patrol Deputy Nicholas Booth, Patrol Deputy Michael English, Dispatcher Heather Murphy and Dispatcher Marissa Sayles. Also, the board heard a presentation on a drug treatment court for Clark County. A drug treatment court is different from your typical circuit court. The goal of a treatment court is to help get drug addicts into treatment, help them recover and tries to keep them out of prison. There are currently 90 courts across the state. The goals of the court is to save lives, break the cycle, reduce stigma and save resources. They do this be treating the court similar to a regular court with a judge and a “jury” that includes members from the parole office, the sheriff’s department, workforce resource and others.
However, when a client is in the program, they judge asks them how things are going; how is the treatment going; are you going to counseling; etc. Their last resort is to put those going through the clinic into jail. Funding for these courts usually comes from the county tax levy or service organizations. Many of these courts are also funded by state and federal grants. The board also heard about the success Portage County has seen after they implemented a drug treatment court. No action was taken on the item during the board meeting, but supervisors were able to ask questions. There is hope that a treatment court will be established for Clark County.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.