By Sarah Elizabeth Villicana, The Porterville Recorder
At the Tulare County Adult Drug Court Graduation, every graduate has won a personal battle to overcome addiction.

On Oct. 12, the public is invited to be a part of the 10th annual commencement ceremony at the Visalia Convention Center.

This year's commencement speaker will be musician Joe Walsh, member of the band The Eagles. Walsh will share his experiences of drug addiction and recovery and has written a new song, “One Day at a Time,” which he will perform during the ceremony. Past speakers at graduation ceremonies in the Tulare County Adult Drug Court have included actors Mackenzie Phillips, Larry Hagman and rock musician David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

To make it to graduation, Superior Court Judge Glade Roper said participants must demonstrate a sincere commitment to a life of sobriety. Participants are required to make regular court appearances, submit to once-a-week drug testing, participate in a 12-Step recovery process, obtain a sponsor and make a daily phone call to their treatment provider. Not everyone allowed into the Drug Court program makes it to graduation. “They have to start out attending 11/2-hour group sessions and a 1-hour counseling session each day - all paid for by them,” Roper said Wednesday afternoon at the Porterville Courthouse. “It's really hard for them.”

Roper said he drops about 10 people from Drug Court each year and sees a drop-out rate of around 30 percent. Drug Court participants packed into a court room Wednesday at the Porterville Court to make their regular appearances before Roper. Some were graduates, there to receive a Drug Court certificate of completion, while others were just beginning the long road to a hopeful recovery.

One man appearing before the court said he was a drug abuser for 20 years. On Wednesday, Roper had the opportunity to hand that man his certificate of graduation and his GED certificate along with a Drug Court T-shirt. “Do you know what my least favorite thing to do is,” Roper asked a younger graduate in his mid-20s. “My least favorite thing to do is to send Drug Court graduates to prison.” Roper asked the younger graduate if he knew he was going to go to prison. “I'm not going to prison,” the graduate said. “I was going to prison.”

Drug Court graduates want to stay clean, Roper said. Drug addiction can cost a person their life while the cost to complete Drug Court in Tulare County is usually between $4,000 and $5,000. The Judicial Council of California's Collaborative Justice Courts Advisory Committee examined the costs and benefits of drug courts in seven counties over a four-year period. In August, the council released its results. The study found an average savings of $11,000 per participant due to fewer re-arrests of drug court participants. Roper said the savings is closer to $14,000 or $15,000 in Tulare County because participants must pay for treatment services.

The Drug Court program in Tulare County started in 1996. Since that time, approximately 1,500 people have graduated from the program, which forces drug offenders into recovery rather than sending them to jail or prison.

Roper and Tulare County Superior Court Judge Gary Paden preside over the Drug Court program in Porterville and Visalia, respectively.

The Tulare County Adult Drug Court graduation ceremony, which starts at 7 p.m., is open to the public. There is no admission charge.

Contact Sarah Villicana at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or svillicana@portervillerecorder.com.

This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Oct. 5, 2006