Thank you for the opportunity to update all of the readers of the ATI Newsletter regarding our efforts to initiate Drug Court at the county level.  At the outset, please note my thanks to the members of the ATI Board for their work in promoting alternatives to incarceration.

At the county level, we have been working for several months with our Steering Committee, consisting of Judge Frederic T. Henry, Jr., Judge James R. Harvey, Judge Craig J. Doran, Judge Stephen Aronson, District Attorney R. Michael Tantillo, Sheriff Philip Povero, Joyce Fiorentino, Department of Social Services; Ron Lippincott, Probation Department; John Kennedy, Assigned Counsel; Barry McFadden, Assistant County Attorney; Kathleen Sweeney, Chief Clerk of County Court; Michael Morrisey, Chief Clerk of Family Court; Nichol Botti, Clay North and  Jacqueline Sisson, Law Clerks; and Kathi Chaplin, Project Manager for the New York State Drug Treatment Courts, to establish a county level Drug Court which will hear appropriate cases involving criminal felonies in county court.  As you are aware, the drug court set up by Judge Aronson has jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases.  In addition, as the result of the foresight of many dedicated professionals in this endeavor, we will be one of the first counties in the state to have a drug treatment court which will hear cases involving juveniles who have committed offenses where drug use and/or abuse is indicated.

This effort will involve the intense cooperation of the court staffs, law enforcement, the District Attorney's office, treatment agencies (both government and not-for-profit) and the community as a whole. We are hopeful that with this unprecedented level of cooperation, we will be able to effectively address offenders who are committing non-violent crimes as the result of substance abuse.  We expect to have the Ontario County Drug Court up-and-running sometime in the early part of 2002; and we look forward to reporting to you on successes of the Drug Court shortly thereafter.