JOHN COFFELTEditor

State to pitch-in $100K to build new one

In the wake of a state audit accusing Coffee County Drug Court of mishandling of funds, the county is currently planning for a replacement recovery program.

County Mayor Judd Matheny said during the Aug. 25 Budget and Finance Committee meeting that the new program, which will be known as “Recovery Court,” will initially be funded with $100,000 gift from the state.

Matheny said Coffee County Drug Court is currently being dissolved and the county is having “complete severance from anything that’s owed.”

Matheny and County Attorney Ed North have been in negotiations with the state to secure the $100,000 startup funds rather than the $70,000 usually allocated for the program.

“Now that we no longer have a functional non-profit, the state understands that we’re going to need more than that $70,000,”Matheny said.

Currently, the county is looking to staff the program with a director and an assistant, he said.

Initially, the county is looking for four to six defendants to participate in the program. Some expenses may be required from the opioid settlement funds.

North said that a preemptive budget will be submitted in short order.

North asked Accounts and Budget Director Marianna Edinger to contact him on how any remaining funds currently on the books from the foundation could be used.

“Our number one thing is we don’t adopt one iota of liability from the past, but we do need to have that functioning,” Matheny said. “And some point, we’ll make it robust again.”

An investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office released last April reported a series of problems related to the Coffee County Drug Court Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Manchester.

The investigative report details eight serious findings related to the executive director’s management of the foundation. Some of these issues place the foundation at risk for penalties, property seizure, refund of grant awards, or other legal action.

Judge Robert Carter and Margo Kilgore are coordinating the judicial side of the program.

Judge Carter said that the county has been in contact with the state Departments of Mental Health and Department of Corrections.

“We are going to reinstitute the Drug Court, and put it under the direct supervision of the county,” Carter said.

As planned, the county will handle payroll and admiration, allowing the drug court personnel to concentrate on the defendants.

Carter said the goal of the new Recovery Court will remain that of Drug Court, to divert offenders from prison who primarily have an addiction problem who would otherwise not participate in criminality and get them the treatment they need.

“Keeping those people in a drug court system is manifestly cheaper than housing them in jail,” Carter said.

To house an inmate in Coffee County, according to the Sheriff’s Department, would cost $54 a day, a drug court program would only cost a fraction of that.

Carter estimated the program to be up and running towards the end of the year.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.