On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, 6th Judicial District Court Division B Judge Laurie R. Brister held a two day virtual drug court training session. The session took place in the Tallulah Courthouse; prominent employees who deal with juveniles, treatment, drug prevention, etc. were in attendance for the training. In addition to leading a team of people to begin a drug court for our district, Judge Brister has facilitated court hearings through the use of Zoom, a helpful videotelephony service to use during the current global pandemic. The presenters were faculty from around the nation and represent the National Drug Court Institute. Dr. Darryl Jackson is the director and Brittany Lanier was the training coordinator. Retired Judge Peggy Davis was the main presenter. The training consisted of numerous topics and subtopics such as defining treatment and continuum of care, equity and inclusion, requirements for program entry, and many more. Drug courts are funded by the Louisiana Legislature. Those funds are administered by the Louisiana Supreme Court. Our drug court will be of minimal cost to the district as the majority of expenses are paid by the grant. The judge does not receive any additional compensation and simply adds more cases to the court calendar.
“I first began my career with the Sixth Judicial District Court as a law clerk for Judge Charles Brackin (deceased). During that time individuals were placed on misdemeanor probation but were not supervised. I began to see that many of them suffered from drug abuse and addiction. I also saw a direct correlation between substance abuse and addiction and criminal behavior. I approached Judge Brackin about starting a probation program in which individuals who were sentenced by the court for misdemeanor crimes were supervised. Those who needed substance abuse counseling and treatment were connected with the needed services,” said Judge Brister. “During this time I began to develop a relationship with treatment providers (like Delta Recovery; I have worked with them since that time) and the probationers. This led to us starting the Sixth Judicial District Misdemeanor Probation Program. This program still exists today and employs two probation officers, Carol Guice for Division B and Melody Jones for Division A.”
Years later Judge Brister began working as an Assistant District Attorney and continued to see the link between substance abuse and addiction and crime; she continued to help individuals connect to needed services and continued to see success for several. She also began to hear about drug courts. During this time Judge Lancaster and Judge Crigler were exploring the possibilities of drug court.
When Judge Brister was sworn in as Judge in March of 2019, she continued this pursuit. Judge Brister, along with Joseph Jackson, Elisha Lucas and Burnie Ratcliff began visiting drug court programs around the state. They saw the success of the programs and began to seek ways to bring the court to our area. In February of this year, she applied for the grant and it was accepted. They were going to begin in person training in April but that was delayed due to the pandemic.
“We decided to just begin the program in Madison as it is the biggest parish and then expand later to East Carroll and Tensas. It is an effective program and we are excited about the possibilities. We hope to begin early in the new year, 2021,” stated Judge Brister.
