Treatment Court Coordinators & Committee

 

The Idaho Drug Court and Mental Health Court Act requires the Supreme Court to establish a Drug Court and Mental Health Court Coordinating Committee. Supreme Court Justice Daniel Eismann served as the first Chair of the Drug Court Coordinating Committee. Today, Justice Gregory Moeller serves as the Chair of the Treatment Court Committee. The Committee has representation from each judicial district consisting of judges, court administrators, treatment court coordinators, prosecuting attorneys, public defenders, the Department of Correction, the Department of Juvenile Corrections, the office of the Governor, and the Department of Health and Welfare.




The charge of the Treatment Court Committee is to establish an implementation plan and oversee ongoing treatment court programs. The implementation plan includes a strategy to forge partnerships among treatment courts, public agencies, and community-based organizations to enhance effectiveness. The Committee is also charged with responsibility to develop guidelines addressing eligibility, identification and screening, assessment, treatment and treatment providers, case management and supervision, and evaluation.


The Committee developed what was one of the first set of guidelines for drug courts in the United States and has since drafted Standards for Adults Treatment Courts and Juvenile Drug Treatment Court. The Committee established a quality assurance process which includes certification, evaluations, and created a peer review process that has been adopted across the country.


In 2022, the Committee recommended a set of comprehensive administrative and procedural rules for treatment courts that were adopted by the Supreme Court. Idaho Rules for Treatment Court https://isc.idaho.gov/irtc


The Committee is also required to solicit specific treatment court plans and recommend funding priorities and decisions per judicial district; pursue all available alternate funding; provide technical assistance, develop procedural manuals, and schedule training opportunities for the drug court teams; design an evaluation strategy, and design an automated management information system, which promotes information sharing with other entities.

 

Minutes of the Treatment Court Committee:

 

Bench Cards may be found under Resources and Media here.

 



The goals of Treatment Courts are to reduce the overcrowding of jails and prisons, to reduce alcohol and drug abuse and dependency among criminal and juvenile offenders, to hold offenders accountable, to reduce recidivism, and to promote effective interaction and use of resources among the courts, justice system personnel and community agencies.


 

To find out more:

Justice Services Division

Email: [email protected]