Login | February 08, 2025
Akron Municipal’s drug court celebrates 20 years
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: September 8, 2017
Twenty defendants are before Akron Municipal Court Judge Jon A. Oldham on a recent morning — all struggling at various stages of drug addiction.
Judge Oldham heads the Akron Municipal Recovery Court for clients in need of substance abuse treatment and services.
Each Thursday morning, the judge begins the session with an inspirational message to the group. Today, it’s a fitting quote by Mahatma Gandi:
“We cannot in a moment get rid of habits of a lifetime.”
Recovery Court (formerly known as Akron Drug Court) was created in 1995 and was the first misdemeanor drug court in the state of Ohio.
Last spring, Akron Municipal Court and Stow Municipal Court collaborated to share Recovery Court resources for clients.
Judge Oldham said Recovery Court has been one of his favorite parts of the job since being elected judge in November 2015.
“Since its inception in 1995, there have been over 1,000 drug court graduates,” he said. “Nothing works 100 percent. But the entire community benefits from drug courts. They reduce recidivism. They reduce jail overcrowding, and they are cheaper than incarceration. Someone can now be a good citizen with a job.”
Recovery Court is a voluntary 12-month intensive probation program designed to treat diagnosed addictions and help defendants become productive members of the community.
Participants are required to complete a substance abuse assessment, submit to regular and random drug testing, attend any recommended substance abuse treatment, attend scheduled Recovery Court sessions, meet weekly with their assigned caseworkers and receive any other services the drug court team finds necessary.
“It’s much easier for a person to just take their charge and move on,” Judge Oldham said. “But here they get the tools for lifelong recovery. Addiction is a disease. Many of them are trying to get custody of their children back, or they want to get sober so their kids don’t observe any active addiction.”
Recovery Court defendants are required to stay and watch their fellow drug court clients’ cases after their own one-on-one time before the judge. This way, they get to know one another and build a rapport to support each other.
Like most Recovery Court clients, J.L. (name withheld to protect the client’s privacy) is addicted to opiates.
A 31-year-old Akron resident, J.L. has been sober for four months, continues to attend sobriety meetings and is now gainfully employed.
He appears to be a different person since he first joined Recovery Court and completed treatment at a local residential treatment center, case worker Rhonda Brink said.
“He came in beat down,” Brink recalled.
What changed?
“When you guys locked me up and didn’t let me out, that probably saved my life,” he said. “I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. It’s hard waking up and looking for the next fix. Lying and manipulating people wasn’t any fun.”
Judge Oldham appears to truly care about each drug court client, taking the time to get to know details about their personal and professional lives.
He is also open-minded and encouraging when clients find their own unique ways to stay sober, such as one male defendant’s success using a combination of yoga and sound healing.
But Judge Oldham acknowledges you can’t force recovery on someone who isn’t ready for it.
On this August morning, a male client tests positive for marijuana and opiates. He is sentenced immediately to 30 days in jail, to be followed by rehab when a bed becomes available.
The client attempts to persuade the judge to change his mind, but this is not the first time he’s broken the drug court rules.
“The participants are held accountable for some of the actions that brought them here in the first place,” said the judge. “Sanctions include jail, halfway houses and community service.”
Drug courts are important now more than ever with the country’s heroin epidemic, Judge Oldham added.
“I love what I’m doing here,” he said. “It’s very rewarding because I can hopefully make a difference.”