44th District Court gets grants for sobriety court

Funds also earmarked for COVID-19 prevention

Royal Oak’s 44th District Court is set to get a total of more than $151,000 in grants for its sobriety court and efforts to protect employees and the public from COVID-19.

The final step is for the City Commission to sign off on the funding at its meeting Monday.

A $77,000 grant from the Michigan Drug Court grant program covers the cost of paying an additional probation officer and some of the Sobriety Court’s expenses, 44th District Chief Judge Derek Meinecke and Judge James Wittenberg said in a memo to the commission.

The city pays the money upfront and is reimbursed from the grant program quarterly.

Royal Oak’s Sobriety Court program is among the most active among state district courts, the judges said in their memo.

“The purpose of the program is to remove dependence on alcohol/drugs in participants’ lives, restore their sense of worth … and set them upon a path of positive contribution to the community, with their family and in the workforce,” their statement said. “It is an intensive program up to two years in duration depending on receptiveness of the individual.”

Nearly 200 people have graduated from the program since 2011.

Five years ago there were 33 people in the Sobriety Court program at any one time. That number has increased to an average of 90 people today.

Standards set by the state for sobriety courts say a single specialty probation officer should handle no more than 50 cases at a time. Another probation officer now helps with the caseload.

A second grant of $74,470 for the 44th District Court is a Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, and is administered through the Michigan State Police, Meinecke said in a memo to the City Commission.

That money will be used to maintain public safety through prevention, preparation and response efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 44th District Court, which handles cases from Royal Oak and Berkley, is already using virtual courtroom technologies and remote probation appointments, Meinecke said in

his memo.

“We have purchased ( personal protective equipment) and plexiglass barriers to ensure social distancing for the staff,” he said.

With the CESF grant the courtwill buy supplies and materials for remote capabilities and building sanitization, including laptops, hydrostatic sprayer and cleaner, Meinecke said.

Additionally, the court will get an outdoor payment kiosk, HVAC purifying system, portable courtroom recording system and software for ZOOM meetings, a remote case management system access and electronic check-in abilities.