Three people earned their way out of Tazewell County Drug Court Wednesday after years of effort to get clean and rebuild their lives.
For 57-year-old Jackie Holmes of Pekin, it marked her first graduation since the eighth grade.
She accepted her certificate of completion wearing the gown meant for her son Dustin’s high school graduation. He died in a single-car accident in 2015 — a loss that took extensive therapy for Holmes to accept.
“This is a very simple program for very complicated people,” Holmes told her peers, a group of about 35 people all at different stages of their recovery.
Drug court allows those charged with non-violent felonies a chance out of the routine justice system. In exchange, participants undergo more than two years of rigorous probation. It involves mandatory group meetings, random drug tests and home visits and homework assignments on what they’ve learned from the process.
Holmes said the most beneficial aspect of the program is being held accountable for almost every waking moment of the day. She also values the transparency it demands from participants.
“It teaches you how to be honest, open-minded, willing,” she said. “It teaches you how to love, how to have hope, how to have faith. It teaches you integrity, humility — and those are a lot of things I didn’t know what they were when I was out using.”
In addition to Holmes, 27-year-old Matthew Sykes of Manito and 37-year-old Joshua Godsey of Peoria also completed the program. Wednesday’s ceremony marked 38 drug court graduates since Tazewell County began the service in 2011.
Judge Michael Risinger, who’s been overseeing drug and mental health court in Tazewell County for the last two and a half years, said there’s a limited window to get through to people suffering from addiction.
“A few weeks ago, I asked the whole group ‘how many of you have ever taken substance and you really didn’t know whether or not it was going to kill you?’ Every one of them raised their hand,” he said.
On the same day as he released some participants, Risinger also sanctioned two people into jail because they broke the rules in some way.
But he said one of the benefits of drug court is that it allows room for mistakes and growth without irreversible consequences.
“This is not about putting them into this program and then eventually sending them to prison. That is a loss for everybody — including society.”
Risinger teared up as he said congratulated the program graduates — the last time he’ll do so. Come the new year, Risinger will take over a civil courtroom in Peoria County.
Judge Katherine Gorman will then take over specialty courts in Tazewell County.
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