Berrien County’s specialty courts are funded for another year now that the Berrien County Board of Commissioners has accepted more than $295,000 in grants for them.
The board formally accepted the funding for the Sobriety Court, the Drug Treatment Court, the Mental Health Court, and the Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program on Thursday.
Berrien County Trial Court Administrator Carrie Smietanka Haney tells us the specialty courts started in 2009 with the introduction of the Mental Health Court, intended to address the root cause of some of the crimes committed by offenders by getting them into supervised treatment. Whether it’s the Mental Health Court or the Drug Treatment Court, Smietanka-Haney says the goal is to reduce recidivism.
“The idea is to get more intense treatment, more intense supervision, really to focus on success rather than just compliance,” Smietanka-Haney said. “And these individuals have a case manager, they work with probation officers more directly, and that can be either on a felony or a misdemeanor charge.”
The newest specialty court is the Sobriety Court, which was introduced this year. It’s for those who have two or more drunk driving convictions, seeking to get them sober through supervised treatment so they’re productive and not endangering the public.
Smietanka-Haney says over the years, the specialty courts have simply done a lot to help people.
“And I think if you spoke to any of our treatment court participants, any of our team members, and particularly Judge Howard, who has been the presiding judge for both Drug Treatment Court and Mental Health Court for the past few years, really, truly saving one life is worth it.”
There are some changes coming, though. Smietanka-Haney tells us the state drastically cut funding for the Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program in the latest budget. The county is only getting $67,000 for the enhanced probation program, whereas last year it got $185,000. Now the Trial Court is preparing to transition offenders in the program to regular probation.
Smietanka-Haney also tells us the specialty courts will be seeing a bit of a rebranding in the new year to make their intent clearer to the public.
