Mission & Goals
The 33rd District Sobriety Court’s mission is to successfully rehabilitate substance-using individuals through increased supervision while maintaining public safety. Our goal is to improve the quality of participants’ lives by operating within a network of systems to facilitate and achieve the vision, mission, and challenge of the 33rd District Sobriety Court.
About the 33rd District Sobriety Court
Sobriety Court is a four-phase comprehensive treatment program for non-violent offenders charged with alcohol or drug-related offenses, who have a substance abuse history, and who are likely to continue a pattern of criminal activity because of their addition.
The Program requirements include: 24 months of probation, rigorous chemical testing, substance abuse treatment, 12-step meetings, bi-weekly Review Hearings, bi-weekly probation visits, community service hours, and fines and costs.
The Team
The Sobriety Court Team meets bi-weekly to discuss the progress of each Participant, review program policies, and evaluate program outcomes. Team members include:
- Honorable Michael K. McNally – Sobriety Court Judge
- Elizabeth Wilds – Director of Probation
- Shannon Baynai – Sobriety Court Probation Officer
- Amy Zawacki – Coordinator/Court Administrator
- Pam Stolz, Community Care Services – Treatment Provider Consultant
- James Pelland – Prosecuting Attorney Consultant
- David Loeckner – Defense Attorney Consultant
- Mark Driscoll, Trenton Police Department – Law Enforcement Consultant
Successes
Sobriety and drug court programs are aimed at breaking the cycle of addiction and crime through intensive treatment and other services. In turn, this reduces the chance that participants will reoffend, it improves outcomes for individuals, families, and communities, and it generates substantial savings for taxpayers. Since its inception in 2008, the Program has successfully graduated 167 individuals. These Program graduates have developed tools and strategies that greatly reduce the chance they will reoffend. In fact, 2019 data shows that individuals that do not participate in the 33rd District Sobriety Court are twice as likely to be convicted of a new alcohol or drug conviction than those that have successfully graduated from our Program.