RECENT EVENT IS A LANDMARK FOR DRUG COURT

Publisher The Escambia County Drug Court celebrated a milestone last night,
ushering its first class of graduates into what staff members hope will be a
new, drug-free phase of the participants' lives.

The Drug Court staff held a recognition ceremony for the five program
participants at The Ritz in downtown Brewton Tuesday evening.

It was the first such event for the relatively new drug court, which was
founded on Oct. 4, 2003.

The five participants are all people who were arrested for drug-related
offenses, but were given a second chance to clear their records by
participating in drug court.

Once a participant -- or client, as they are referred to by the court --
completes his or her treatment and societal obligations to the court, the
charge which originally landed them there is erased from their record.

The court has provided hope for those in the system who have been arrested
for drug crimes, but who are intent on turning their lives around.

"Drug court is for people who want to get help, and are really ready to
change their lives," said Drug Court Director Denise Alverson. "If they
think they're coming into drug court because it's a way to get out of jail,
they'll never make it."

The five drug court clients recognized Tuesday night for having completed
the program have lived up their end of the bargain. In addition to
participating in court monitored treatment programs, they have completed all
the following steps which applied to them individually: gotten a high school
equivalency degree, registered to vote, gotten or renewed a driver's
license, paid treatment fees, stayed drug-free for six months, abided by
court-ordered restitution.

Now that they have left the court-ordered phase of the program, Alverson
said, these five clients can use the drug court and its resources as a
support system as they try to stay clean. In addition, they may wind up
being associated with the court in another way -- by serving on a peer
review board that hears the cases of future drug court participants.

There are currently 45 clients participating in the Escambia County Drug
Court, and a waiting list of arrestees who want to participate.

The staff has decided on 50 as a manageable number for the court at any one
time, Alverson said.

The drug court operates with a five-person staff: Judge Bradley Byrne, who
tries the cases; Alverson; Jerry Caylor, who as supervisor keeps watch over
clients; and Tina Hardy, Alverson's assistant.