News

Madison County Juvenile Drug Court Graduation is December 9

December 8, 2008

Eleven teenagers are expected to graduate from the Madison County Juvenile Drug Court in a ceremony at 6:30 p.m. December 9 at the Madison County Courthouse, 128 West North Street in Canton.

Teresa Crum, pharmacy director at Holmes County Hospital, will be the guest speaker.

Madison County Court Judge William Agin, who heads the Drug Court program, will preside over the graduation.

Members of the news media are invited to attend the graduation. Reporters, photographers and editors are reminded that participants are juveniles enrolled in a Youth Court program. Because of the confidentiality required by law in Mississippi Youth Court matters, members of the media are asked to refrain from publishing or broadcasting any information or photographs which would in any way identify any individual juvenile participant or family member.

Thirty juveniles will remain enrolled in the Madison County program after the graduation. The program takes a minimum of a year to complete. Participants earn one point each week they are compliant with the program. It takes 52 points to graduate. Some take longer than a year to graduate.

The Madison County Juvenile Drug Court accepts participants ages 12 through 17 who have been referred to the Youth Court after having either been charged with nonviolent delinquent acts or deemed to be children in need of supervision. The program began in May 2004.

Mississippi currently has 28 drug courts – eight juvenile programs and 20 adult programs. Statewide, 1,983 people, including 278 juveniles, were enrolled in drug court programs in October, the latest period for which complete statistics were available, according to the Administrative Office of Courts.

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