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Grads reach recovery milestone
Getting Southwest Missourians off drugs or alcohol and keeping them out of prison is worth the considerable effort it requires of them and the Vernon County officials who counsel and at times admonish them.
Honoring three new graduates Tuesday night in Presiding Circuit Judge James R. Bickel's courtroom, Vernon County Adult Recovery Court has had much less recidivism than the probation and parole systems, the judge told 75 people at the 5 p.m. ceremony.
He said that since the program started in July 2001, it's seen 60 former offenders graduate after at least 18 months of counseling and testing with only a 30-percent failure rate.
Doug Forkner, 49, and Charles Thomas, 19, heard Prosecuting Attorney Lynn Ewing drop all charges while Bickel said Cedar County had already rescinded its allegations against 25-year-old Misty Lane so she could get a better job and help her husband and two small children.
Reporting 105 graduates so far in his four-county jurisdiction, Bickel said it is not unusual for them to return to jail "a couple of times" during their training. "They work hard to fight their addictions and turn their lives around," he said.
"We're finding a way to stop that revolving door. Thousands of lives have been touched."
Stan Ford of Pathways Community Behavioral Healthcare and J.B. Woolverton of Nevada Mental Health Services described each candidate's challenges.
They said Forkner was an alcoholic accused of DWI who initially just wanted to keep his driver's license, Thomas a drug abuser who is now a successful college student and Lane a small time dealer who wouldn't have qualified had she done more than sell drugs to friends to support her habit.
Opening with an invocation by First Baptist Church Pastor Steve Russ, the hour-long ceremony featured a keynote address by Nevada Chief of Police Graham Burnley, a country music fan who quoted singer Trace Adkins.
Addressing the graduates, Burnley said Adkins "stands for personal responsibility and opposes anything that undermines it.
"I hope you find the drug court has given you a second chance," he said. "Isn't that a blessing?"
To the heavy applause of relatives, friends and previous graduates, the beaming Forkner, Thomas and Lane were each given a certificate and a "recovery Bible."
The Recovery Court Committee includes Associate Circuit Judge Neal Quitno, Court Administrator David Heumader, Sheriff Ron Peckman, NPD Officer Pam Miller, Court Clerk Vickie Erwin, Public Defenders Joseph Zuzul, Rebecca Elliston and Kyla Moorhouse, Probation and Parole Officers Brian Teems and Jennifer Byers, Community Service Coordinator Pete Schmidt, Juvenile Probation Officer Jennifer Thomas, Bickel, Ewing, Burnley, Ford and Woolverton.