First Judicial Adult Treatment Court
Introduction
The First Judicial District Adult Treatment Court (FJDATC) was developed to restructure judicial participation in cases involving chemically dependent offenders. All agencies involved concur that a more efficient, structured, balanced, and centralized system must be developed to meet the needs of offenders where chemical dependency issues have precipitated legal intervention. The purpose of the program is to direct chemically dependent offenders into a comprehensive program of drug treatment and related ancillary services.
Mission Statement
The mission of the First Judicial District Treatment Court is to improve the overall quality of life in our community by providing a court supervised program for substance dependent offenders that will enhance public safety, reduce crime, foster healthy families, hold offenders accountable, reduce costs to our community and ultimately transform these offenders into positive, contributing members of our community.
Our goals are to assure participants they will have more success in maintaining law abiding behavior, reducing the number and duration of relapses while increasing the duration of their sobriety, and increasing their life skills. In addition, it is this Court’s goal to act as an operational model for Adult Treatment Courts that can be replicated in other jurisdictions.
The Treatment Team utilizes a cooperative, comprehensive, structured, and centralized system of multi-disciplinary community providers. To meet the needs of the participating defendants where chemical dependency issues have precipitated legal involvement, we provide each participant with a comprehensive program of drug/alcohol treatment and related ancillary services.
Statement of Empowerment
It is the underlying treatment philosophy of FJDATC that participants are best served when treatment team members and service providers work with them in accessing services and responding to social and treatment requirements, but do not complete these tasks for participants (when the participant is capable of performing these tasks themselves). Long-term success is dependent on the participant’s ability to be self-sufficient and empowered, not to be enabled and sheltered from decisions both in their services and the services their children and/or families require.
Team Members
Hon. Christopher D. Abbott
Adult Treatment Court Judge
(406) 447-8209
Layla Eichler
Court Coordinator
(406) 457-8810
Ann B. Penner
Deputy County Attorney
Marisa O'Sullivan
Defense Counsel
James Ward
Law Enforcement
Jaimee Szlemko
Probation Officer