VIRGINIA BEACH — Soon Virginia Beach resident facing drug-related probation violations may be placed in drug court instead of behind bars.
The Virginia Beach Drug Treatment Court will soon join the ranks of more than 3,100 drug courts across the country. Those courts address the needs of repeat offenders and people with drug addictions by offering them an alternative to time in jail or prison.
The court is designed for non-violent offenders who don’t have a history of selling drugs, but have violated their probation by testing positive for drugs during a screening, according to a news release from the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Not everyone will be accepted into the drug court, and it doesn’t nullify a person’s probation violation because they have to plead guilty to it to be accepted into the program; however, it will allow for their jail sentence to be suspended if they are able to complete the requirements of the drug court, Commonwealth’s Attorney spokeswoman Macie Allen wrote in an email.
Officials began screening candidates for the new drug court on June 1. It will be held every Thursday at 2 p.m. in Virginia Beach Circuit Court as soon as there are defendants who qualify for the program and want to be involved, the release states.
Those selected will have to attend the weekly drug court docket, report to their treatment provider every day, maintain a job and do community service. They will undergo random drug testing, and if they test positive they can be kicked out of the program and be put in jail, according to the release.
“Drug addictions are very difficult to overcome,” Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin D. Stolle wrote in the release. “The VBDTC is designed to be easy to get in and hard to get out. We hope to equip these offenders with the resources they need to kick their habits and change their entire lifestyle.”
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