PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s juvenile drug court will graduate its 100th participant in a ceremony at the Clallam County Courthouse today.
The ceremony for participants in the court-supervised substance-abuse treatment program will be at 4 p.m. in Superior Courtroom No. 1 at the courthouse at 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
Some juvenile offenders who are chemically dependant are eligible for the program, which requires a minimum of one year participation.
If a participant graduates, charges are dismissed.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood has presided over the juvenile drug court system for the past six years.
Prior to that, Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams, who initiated the county’s drug court program in the late 1990s, handled both adult and juvenile drug courts.
Williams still presides over Clallam County adult drug court, which celebrated its 10th anniversary on Oct. 21.
During the ceremony, Williams said the adult drug court has produced more than 200 success stories.
The youngest participant in the county’s juvenile drug court system was just 13 when she started. She is now a college graduate.
Williams in 1996 led a countywide effort to apply for and win a three-year, $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to pay for training, treatment and implementation of the juvenile and adult drug courts.
Clallam County’s juvenile drug court became the first in the Pacific Northwest and one of a handful in the nation.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
