A press release from the McHenry County Circuit Court:

Twenty Second Judicial Circuit of McHenry County Receives Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Adult Drug Court Discretionary: Implementation Grant

WOODSTOCK, IL – The Twenty Second Judicial Circuit is pleased to announce that the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) announced that the Twenty Second Judicial Circuit will be receiving funding from the FY 11 Adult Drug Court Discretionary:

Implementation Grant Program in the amount of $305,717.

BJA is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, the Community Capacity Development Office and the Office of Sex Offenders Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking.

The BJA Adult Drug Court Discretionary: Implementation Grant is available by competitive grant process to jurisdictions which have completed a substantial amount of planning and are ready to implement an evidence-based adult drug court program.
The Twenty Second Judicial Circuit wishes to recognize Mr. Scott A. Block, Specialty Court Coordinator, as the principal writer for producing a document which will bring federal dollars into McHenry County. Scott was initially hired by the Twenty Second Judicial Circuit in August of 2009 as the Mental Health Court Coordinator. Since then Scott has sought and taken on additional responsibilities, such as coordinating the drug court planning initiative, coordinating many educational opportunities, seeking out funding opportunities and has taken the lead in the planning of a potential domestic violence court.

According to the BJA (2005) an adult drug court is a specially designed court calendar and the purposes of which are

• to achieve a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent substance abusing offenders and
• to increase the offender’s likelihood of successful habilitation through early, continuous and intense judicially supervised treatment, mandatory random drug testing, community supervision and use of appropriate sanctions and other rehabilitation services

In collaboration with the

• McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office,
• McHenry County Public Defender’s Office,
• McHenry County Court Services,
• McHenry County Sheriff’s Office,
• McHenry County Bar Association,
• McHenry County Mental Health Board,
• Family Service and Community Mental Health Center and Centegra Health Systems,

the Twenty Second Judicial Circuit is scheduled to convene its Adult Drug Court program on December 1, 2011 with Hon. Michael W. Feetterer presiding.

Referrals for the Adult Drug Court program are expected to come from

• probation officers,
• public defenders,
• private attorneys and
• police officers.

Defendants being assessed for the program must meet program eligibility criteria including;

• McHenry County residency,
• age 17 years or older at the time of the offense,
• a current nonviolent felony offense in McHenry County,
• a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of alcohol/drug dependence and statutory eligibility criteria as outlined in 730 ILCS 166/20.