At the November session of the Columbus Municipal Drug Court on Nov. 23, Judge Marc Amos, who will shortly take a position with the District Attorney’s office, said his leaving the drug court was bittersweet.
“I have loved this job more than any job I have ever had,” he told the participants at the beginning of court. “It is the most rewarding job I have ever had, bar none.”
When Amos walked into the court room to begin proceedings, he received a standing ovation from the 15 or so participants present and the drug court staff.
Amos recently accepted the position of Assistant District Attorney under newly-elected District Attorney Scott Colom. Starting next year, Amos will no longer preside over the Columbus Municipal Drug Court.
“You made the job worthwhile and I appreciate it,” he told the participants at lat Monday’s court session. “I really do.”
He jokingly added that he hoped he never had to work with any of them in his new position as Assistant District Attorney.
Amos has presided over the city’s drug court for the last couple of years, coming on at the same time as newly-elected District Attorney Scott Colom. Amos and Colom volunteered with the drug court, said drug court coordinator Leonardo Dismukes, who said both had good ideas for how to improve the program.
The Columbus Municipal Drug Court is a program for non violent offenders with misdemeanor charges that focuses on rehabilitation as an alternative to prison sentencing. Dismukes said it was one of Amos’s requirements that participants in drug court attend counseling. Amos approves each participant in the program. Participants have to go through mandatory drug tests as well as group therapy, sessions with the drug court therapist, weekly meetings with the drug court case manager, meetings with a probation officer and two Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous meetings per week, according to Dismukes.
The drug court team also helps participants find jobs or continue their education. At the end of the participant’s time in the program, if he or she has been successful, Amos dismisses the charges that landed him or her in drug court.
During a typical session of court, which meets once per month, Amos gives out rewards in the form of $25 Walmart gift cards to participants who have improved or exhibited extremely good behavior over the previous month. Amos pays for the gift cards out of his pocket.
“Two people will get blessed by his own finances each month,” Dismukes said, speaking of the gift cards.
It’s not all fun and games though. During drug court sessions, Amos also gives verbal warnings and sanctions to people who have lapsed, often by failing a drug test. During November’s session, Amos called out a participant who tested positive during one of his drug tests. Amos told the man that he considered giving him jail time. But since it was the man’s first time failing a drug test, Amos simply gave him a warning and changed some of the requirements for him participating in the program, telling him to come in for drug tests weekly and warning him that jail would follow if he fails another test.
Dismukes said Amos will be missed when he leaves drug court.
“He’s leaving the program better than he found it,” Dismukes said.
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