BANGOR, Maine — The Penobscot County drug court could be up and running again as early as January if stakeholders are able and willing to organize the program anew.
The Legislature earlier this year approved $300,000 over the next two years for an Adult Drug Treatment Court expected to be based in Bangor. The revitalization of the program is not expected to affect the Family Treatment Drug Court in Bangor, according to State Court Administrator Ted Glessner.
Family drug courts treat parents with substance abuse issues who are facing criminal charges and who are dealing with the Department of Health and Human Services over abuse and neglect concerns. It does not accept single adults without children.
Adult drug treatment courts currently operate in Androscoggin, Cumberland, Hancock, Washington and York counties. The total cost of adult drug courts, including the one funded in Penobscot County, is $954,000 over the next two years.
The money primarily pays for treatment providers, case managers and drug tests, according to previously published reports.
The previous drug court program for adults in Bangor shut down in 2011 when funds were shifted from Penobscot County to the Co-occurring Disorders Court in Augusta. Prior to 2011, the so-called mental health court was funded with federal grant money that was no longer available.
“There is a huge need here for an adult treatment court,” Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, said last week. “We deal with defendants with substance abuse issues daily. We are constantly struggling to get treatment for them.”
Roberts was the prosecutor who worked for more than a decade with the previous program.
Since the Bangor drug court ended, defendants who have reliable transportation and qualify for drug court are able to apply to the Hancock County drug court. Currently, there are five people participating in that program who were charged in Penobscot County, according to Joan Piskura, the case manager for the drug court in Ellsworth.
To qualify for participation in adult drug court, a defendant must be at least 18 years old, be diagnosed with an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol, be willing to participate in the program and be recommend by the prosecutor and his or her defense attorney. To be accepted, the entire drug court team that consists of a judge, case manager, treatment provider, case manager, probation and parole officer, and law enforcement representative, in addition to the prosecutor and defense attorney, must agree to accept a defendant.
Jonathan Gaudet knows firsthand the benefits of drug court. The former Penobscot County drug court and the one in Ellsworth helped him get sober and avoid prison time. Gaudet, 34, of Bucksport graduated from the program in 2012.
“It was awesome,” he said last week. “I was proud of myself. I was happy when I was sober.”
After being sober four years, he relapsed and on Friday pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary, related misdemeanor thefts, three felony thefts and a forgery charge he said were related to his addiction. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
“It got me back on the right track,” Gaudet said of drug court. “Doing drug court gives you a shot at normal. Going to prison, doesn’t teach you nothing.”
Gaudet would not qualify for drug court a second time but treatment would be a condition of probation once his case is resolved, Roberts said.
Once it is up and running, the revitalized drug court in Bangor will be able to serve 25 to 30 defendants as it did previously, according to Roberts.
Last year, 159 defendants participated with 80 active participants as of Dec. 31, according to an annual report on adult drug courts made to the Legislature each year. Forty-two people graduated in 2014 and 37 were expelled for non-compliance and incarcerated.