Prince Frederick, MD – Calvert County officials plan to spend additional money to tackle the ongoing drug problem and will use the funds in the local judicial system. During the Calvert County Commissioners’ Tuesday, Aug. 9 meeting the board made a budget adjustment for a $218,068 state grant from the Office of Problem Solving Courts (OPSC) for expenses the county incurs while running its Adult Treatment Court. The commissioners also okayed the expenditure of $75,843 for a new lawyer in the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office to handle legal matters for the court. The money for the new attorney position will come from the commissioner’s contingency fund.
The drug court in Calvert began its operation in January 2015.
“Defendants with non-violent offenses who are facing Department of Corrections time—two years or more—are referred to the program,” Calvert County State’s Attorney Laura Martin [R] stated in a memo to the commissioners. “They must be Calvert County residents and have no crimes of violence in their history to be considered. A referral can be made by the state, the defense, the defendant him/herself, the judge, a member of the team [Martin, Circuit Court Judge Mark Chandlee, drug court staff and representatives from several agencies, including the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and local Health Department] or a family member.”
Martin noted the Adult Treatment Court has grown rapidly and currently has over 60 active participants. It has put an added burden on the State’s Attorney’s Office already heavy workload.
“I spend over half of my time now handling drug court matters and often have to come to work on the weekends,” Martin stated. “There is no attorney on staff with time to devote to this program, given the demands on their time due to their caseloads. The program cannot exist without the cooperation of my office, but I cannot continue to devote this much time to the program myself, to the detriment of my other responsibilities as state’s attorney.”
While the commissioners’ approval of the new attorney position was unanimous, at least one board member lamented the expenditure. “Just think why we are spending this money,” said Commissioner Mike Hart [R – District 1]. “It’s this ‘society thing.’ It’s money thrown away. But what are you going to do?”
Hart conceded that all locals involved in the war on drugs—law enforcement, judicial and health—were “doing everything they can.”
Commissioners’ President Evan K. Slaughenhoupt Jr. [R – District 3] observed that the drug court is showing some positive results. County Administrator Terry Shannon stated the smaller number of inmates housed at the Calvert County Detention Center might also be proof that the program is working. Shannon pointed out that fewer detention center inmates mean a savings in taxpayer dollars.
“We have seen great success with the program,” Martin stated in her memo. “There are approximately eight participants scheduled for graduation this August. All have more than one year of sobriety. We have only had five removals and, of those, only two were for committing a new offense. The recidivism rate in the program is exceptionally low. Moreover, our Calvert Program has already been recognized by the State Problem Solving Courts administration as one of the best in the state.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com