Story By Hunter Jones

The Jackson County Drug Court held their 17th annual graduation ceremony on Tuesday, marking the day that 21 drug court members have their felonies dismissed and are able to walk into a new phase of their new, clean life.

In the seats of First Baptist Church, friends, family, law enforcement, attorneys, current and former members of drug court and the recovery community attend to show their support for the class’ commitment to a new life. To start the program, the Northeast Alabama Community College Choir plays the songs “Here Comes the Sun” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. After a brief introduction by Circuit Judge Brent Benson, he calls Ken Looney to lead the building in prayer. In his prayer, Looney thanks God for the compassion of the people in Montgomery who first pushed for the drug court system currently used, calling this option of being able to get sober a far better preference than punishing those already going in a bad situation.

Following the prayer, Benson reflects on his first year leading the drug court program. He talks about how the program was first handed to him on this very stage last year when Circuit Judge John Graham announced his stepping down as the leader of the court, opting to hand the program to Benson. Benson jokes that at the time, it was difficult to say no when asked to take over “by the presiding circuit judge and retired Alabama Supreme Court Justice Sue Bell Cobb in the middle of a stage with hundreds of people staring at you.”

Benson then says that since that night a year ago, he has looked forward to this year’s graduation where he can host it. He remembers the first drug court graduation held in 2008. He sat on the first floor in one of the back rows. Benson was set to move back to Jackson County and begin working in the courthouse in two weeks, where he would serve as the drug court prosecutor. At first, Benson did not believe himself fit for the job, seeing it more as social work. Though, as the graduation went on and Benson saw what drug court was really about, he quickly came to change his mind.

“I realized what drug court was, I realized what good came from it and I was all in,” Benson said.

Benson said that this ceremony every year means a lot to the people involved in the program, from the judge himself, the committee members, the drug court members, the alumni and the recovery community. Benson states that so long as he is the drug court judge, the graduation ceremony will remain.

“I don’t care if we wind up having one person graduating or if we have nearly two dozen like we have tonight. We are going to fill the church up and we’ll celebrate this every year,” Benson said.

Benson then states that the graduation ceremony occurring on Thanksgiving week is no small coincidence, saying that drug court gives many things for people to be thankful for, adding that he is personally thankful to see these graduates be productive members of society.

Benson then reads off some statistics of the Jackson County Drug Court. This year, the graduating class combines for 15,970 days clean, over 43 and a half years. However, the most important number that Benson reads out is 59. The number represents the amount of children who will have their parent home, living a clean lifestyle, with Benson even adding that he includes children over the age of 18, stating the importance of parents even after one reaches adulthood.

As Benson has Assistant District Attorney Krystina Jackson read the names of each graduate, give the state’s intent to dismiss his plea, case and graduate the member. Judge Benson then asks if any in attendance have an objection to the order. A loud “No” fills the room, with the member being graduated and handed a folder containing a certificate and a challenge coin. The graduate is then asked to state their name, plea in date, clean date and offer any other words if they have them. As they come up on the stage, family, friends, attorneys and arresting officers join them. Many do choose to speak, thanking the people behind this program, including Benson, Graham, Drug Court Coordinator Wendy Trott and others. Some even speak to the current drug court members in attendance, stating that anyone can get through this program just like they have.

One graduate, Sierra Logan, wears a shirt reading “God and Drug Court”. Benson then calls to attention Logan’s young daughter, with a matching black shirt that on the back reads “kept us together.”

Another graduate, Greg Washington, helped restore the sign for the Garden of Hope after it was ripped in a storm. Rather than replacing it, Washington fixed the sign, saying that it symbolized how they come into the program broken to be put back together.

As the final graduate was recognized, Benson showed a couple of known props within drug court. One of them is a magic wand. Benson explains that when a drug court member phases up, one of the assistants uses the wand to do so as an informal ceremony. Benson decides that while he may not be trained in handling the wand, he could give the final phase for this graduation class.

With a kick of the leg and a word, the class receives the ultimate phase up. Benson then introduces the Terry Peacock Courage Award, named after a former graduate of drug court. Peacock was a cancer patient and at one point was sent to the hospital with severe pain. When told they would put him on narcotics, he told them that he was in drug court and could not have any drugs. Peacock was given a yellow bracelet to show that he was allergic to narcotics. Peacock gave that bracelet to Graham before Peacock passed away and Graham has kept that bracelet as an ultimate example of courage for the drug court participants, passing it along with the award to Benson. While many would describe the award as the drug court ‘MVP’, Benson says that the award goes deeper than that.

“The recipients are nominated by their peers and voted on by the Drug Court Advisory Committee. The goal of the award is to recognize someone who has shown courage against adversity, had a positive attitude, encouraged others and has been a role model to his or her peers,” Benson said.

The award has gone to someone who had no issues during the program and it has gone to someone who faced multiple problems while in the program. Benson has all of the former award winners in attendance come and join him, with one of the past winners reading this year’s recipient, Logan.

Logan thanks all of the drug court participants, workers and her family for getting her to today. Benson stated that whenever they needed a speaker from drug court, he would always contact Trott to see if Logan was willing and she was always happy to help.

Lastly, Benson, Graham and members of Jackson County Drug Court recognized Trott, who will be stepping away from her full-time duties at drug court after serving as coordinator for 13 years.

“Wendy is the hardest worker in all of the drug court. She is always willing to answer questions, answer a call for help, willing to roll up her sleeves and get dirty, literally, physically and metaphorically. She will do anything and everything to see that our graduates succeed,” Benson said.

Benson and Graham presented Trott with a special plaque, commemorating her work for drug court, with one word particularly standing out in that plaque: life-saving.

Trott is eventually coaxed into speaking by the judges and crowd, where she thanks the judges for allowing her to serve in this position.

“I really do it for the participants. It’s more like a family, it’s not a job. I’m going to miss them all,” Trott said.

With all the members graduated, recognized and awards handed out, Benson dismisses the graduation, inviting everyone to grab a plate of barbecue in the gym and telling the current drug court members that tonight will serve as their weekly session, asking that they all take Friday to spend with their families.

“Spend Friday with your families, spend Friday sober, spend Friday loving on them and celebrating and being thankful for what you have. Enjoy it,” Benson said.