Mission Statement

Our Mission

The mission of the Black Hawk County Drug Court is to enhance public safety and benefit our community through a judicially supervised, collaborative effort work with non-violent substance offenders, thereby reducing recidivism and associated crime.

Based on an innovative program first developed in Miami, Florida in 1989, the Drug Court concept has received widespread attention as an effective treatment strategy for drug involved criminal offenders. There are over 1,000 Drug Courts throughout the nation, five others operational in Iowa.

Black Hawk County Drug Court represents a non-traditional approach to criminal offenders who are addicted to drugs. Rather than focusing only on the crimes and punishments, Drug Court also attempts to solve some of the offenders underlying problems.

The Drug Court is built upon a unique partnership between the criminal justice and drug treatment communities, one which structures treatment intervention around the authority and personal involvement of a sing Drug Court Judge.

The Drug Court is dependent upon the creation of a non-adversarial courtroom atmosphere where a single Judge and dedicated correctional and treatment staff work together toward a common goal of breaking the cycle of drug abuse and criminal behavior. An environment with clear and certain rules is created and a participant's compliance is within their own control.