Mahoning County’s Judge Jack Durkin has been selected by Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor to represent the State of Ohio at the 2019 National Faculty Preparation Seminar: Court-Involved Individuals with Substance Use Disorders.
      The seminar, hosted by The National Judicial College (NJC), is designed to prepare only one representative from each state’s judicial system to teach on addiction topics that are most relevant to the justice system: the science of addiction, FDA-approved medications for treating opioid addiction, evidence-based practices, and other important topics.
      “It’s an incredible honor that Chief Justice O’Connor nominated me to represent the State of Ohio,” said Judge Durkin. “The opportunity to have leaders in law and medicine working together to address this public health and safety emergency will only strengthen the work that our treatment agencies and felony drug court already do on behalf of people in our community who suffer from a substance-use disorder.”
      Judge Durkin established Mahoning County’s Felony Drug Court over 20 years ago, and it continues to produce positive results, including recidivism rates lower than 10 percent, and 7 percent after three years.
      Specialty dockets, like drug court(s), allow for judges to provide alternative options like treatment for substance-use disorder rather than serving jail time.
      These specialty courts are also a proven way to hold individuals with a substance-use disorder accountable and ensure participation in mental health and addiction treatment.