DOT grant awarded to Superior
Last week, the Mineral County DUI Court announced that it has been awarded a $75,620 grant from the Montana Department of Transportation Highway and Traffic Safety Division for implementation of a Driving Under the Influence (D.U.I.) Court in Mineral County. The funds will be administered through the Town of Superior with the support of Mayor Mike Wood and Brenda Schneider as Chief Financial Officer.
Judge Wanda James, who presides over the court in Mineral County, said that the team actually applied for the grant late.
“We had written a small grant in September and we went down to training and the gal encouraged us to apply. She said that they had more money and they would extend the deadline by a couple of days,” James said.
Administrative assistants Juli Balenger and Colleen Vearrier teamed with James and together they hurried to write the grant.
“We applied for ninety-nine thousand,” James said. “The gal said to ask for everything you want even though you might not get it. So we applied for everything we wanted and we waited and we waited and we waited. Finally, Colleen emailed her one day and asked did we get nothing? She said I will let you know. You will get something. So we waited and waited again and finally found out.”
James said they were excited to learn that they were going to receive.
DUI Courts work to reduce drunken driving incidents and provide intensive supervision and treatment for offenders. It allows them to remain gainfully employed in the community. The Court admits both Town and County DUI defendants and has been operating in Mineral County since 2006.
Prior to this grant, James said that the court had been operating on a “shoestring budget” of about $34,000 for a fiscal year.
The funds from this grant will be used for staff, office Supplies/equipment, licensed addiction counselors, program evaluator, case manager, drug and alcohol testing, alcohol monitoring and alternative transportation,
James said that a lot of clients can’t drive and so they will be purchasing five bicycles. She said that they also plan to buy a computer specifically for the use of the court. James added that the grant will also allow them to provide some wrap around care for clients. For example, if an individual has abscessed teeth, he can’t very well participate fully because of the pain so James described a scenario in which they could help pay for his teeth to receive treatment. She cautioned though that they would only help to fill the gap between what the individual can pay and what the cost is.
“We’re going to be able to address more people and provide a better myriad of services,” James said.
Currently, the court is treating 12 DUI participants. Drug court has had 31 graduates. James said that one of the biggest things the court needs is community involvement, input, mentors and stake holders.
“I think a lot of time people don’t know about us unless they are affected in some way,” James said.
For more information, please contact one of the coordinators Juli Balenger or Colleen Vearrier at 822-3550. You are invited to join us to observe a court session every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in the District Court courtroom.
The court is staffed by a team of professionals. They are: Presiding Judge, Honorable Wanda James; District Court Judge, Honorable John Larson; County Attorney, Marcia Boris; Director of Western Montana Mental Health, Tom Hodgetts; Chemical Dependency Providers, Nancy Smith and Logan Cook; Case Managers, Stephanie Quick and Charlee Thompson; Felony Probation, Jay Childress; Misdemeanor Probation, Tim Case; Juvenile Probation, Jim Myers; Law Enforcement Liaisons, Sheriff Ernie Ornelas, Deputy Jim Balenger, Trooper Richard Hader, Defense Attorney, Kirk Krutilla; Coordinators, Colleen Vearrier and Juli Balenger.
Mineral County’s team attended training in June in Salt Lake City funded by a similar grant and a state training in September in Helena.