Atlantic Circuit Superior Court Judge D. Jay Stewart attended the National Drug Court Professionals’ 19th annual training conference July 14-17 in Washington, D.C.
The conference provides state-of-the-art training to drug-court personnel from across the country including judges, defense lawyers, prosecutors, addictive-disease counselors and court administrators.
The Atlantic Judicial Circuit Drug Court was initiated by Stewart in January 2009 to provide drug treatment to non-violent criminal defendants whose appearance in superior court was due, in large part, to the use/abuse of drugs.
The drug-court program consists of five phases over the course of two years in which the participant receives intensive drug counseling while maintaining full-time employment or is enrolled in school as a full-time student. The program provides savings to tax payers, as most participants would otherwise be incarcerated.
 Participants must remain drug-free for a minimum of one year prior to graduation from the program. Since its inception, around 40 graduates have completed the program.