Judge Scott Hunter was invited to be the speaker at the July 28 meeting of the Austintown Rotary Club.Judge Hunter is a lifelong resident of Mahoning County and previously served as the Mayor of the City of Canfield. He began his service as a Mahoning County Court Judge with his appointment to the position in 1999 and was subsequently elected to a full 6 year term in the fall of 2000, and re-elected in 2006 serving in Austintown, Boardman, Sebring and Canfield.
Judge Scott has presided over the Misdemeanor Drug Court since April of 2001 working diligently to expand it into a successful rehabilitative court alternative.
Beginning in February 2001, the court covers non-violent misdemeanors only. This is an attempt to try to keep substance abuse users out of jail, while saving taxpayers money. They provide evaluation, education, treatment intervention and case management. Participants meet weekly with their case manager and Judge Hunter.The Court strategy is based on the premise that treatment of addiction may reduce drug-related criminalbehavior.
A whole system is in place beginning with admission of guilt by the user. A maximum sentence is imposed and held in abeyance for the subject enters the program. If the program is completed, the sentence is dropped.If there are violations, the jail time is invoked or additional programs are imposed. The goal is to make them productive citizens and not a concern for society. In the 2004 study only 8.2% of those who went thru the program were re-arrested. Approximately $1 million has been saved to date in the cost to the community.This is a very successful program by those standards. Drug abuse and addiction touch every one of us one wayor another.