Drug court graduates 10 grateful people

By Ben Walker

April 20, 2006 | Ten people graduated from Judge Thomas Willmore's drug court Tuesday and Willmore told them he never wanted to see them back again.

Each of the graduates had a support group consisting of family members, friends, co-workers or a combination of the three. Willmore's court didn't have sufficient space, so the group packed Judge Gordon Low's court to capacity.

Every one of the graduates had a turn to stand and speak. Many gave thanks for the drug court program, counselors, family members and for Willmore's help.

"I thought it'll be a cold day at the equator before I say I'm thankful for drug court," graduate Judy Hall said. "Thankfully, through drug court we all have the tools we need to work through this for the rest of our lives."

"It takes a lifetime to cope with your addiction," Willmore said. "It takes every minute of every day, one day at a time."

Drug court has been active in Logan since 2000. The program requires at least 52 consecutive weeks with clean drug tests which are conducted randomly.

"When I got in trouble, I was jobless and moneyless. My family didn't trust me and my friends that I had were gone when I got arrested," graduate Matt Nielsen said. "After 15 months, I have a job and my parents trust me for the first time in who knows how long."

The concept of drug court includes a guilty plea by the accused, which is then put on hold while the person goes through drug court treatment. If the person graduates, the plea is revoked and charges are dropped.

Willmore granted such benefits to all 10 graduates.

"I'm just happy," said graduate Skyler Thompson. "It feels good to be clean and I don't know how to explain that"

Nielsen said, "This program works. It's changed my life completely."

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