By Chelsey Hinsenkamp
SLN Staff
Last month marked the first graduation from the recently developed Walworth County Operating While Intoxicated Court.
The court is a treatment program for offenders facing their third or fourth OWI charge, which was developed in an attempt to replace some of the more traditional methods of dealing with drivers under the influence such as fines and imprisonment.
The program, which kicked off in October of 2011, is so far, a success, according to OWI Court team member John Kozlowicz,
“I think one of the reasons we started the whole program is we had this expectation of success for most of the participants,” Kozlowicz explained.
With about 20 individuals currently enrolled in the program, Kozlowicz said he hopes to see the trend continue.
The program requires participants to complete four 12-week phases. They must wear a bracelet that monitors location and alcohol consumption and meet state mandates monitored by a probation officer. Participants must also prepare personal objectives accompanied by plans to achieve them.
The most recent graduate, who Kozlowicz was only willing to identify as David, presented his final objectives as part of his Oct. 16 graduation ceremony.
“His were, as you might expect, involving remaining sober,” Kozlowicz said of David’s objectives.
He said David described situations, like meeting with old friends, and how he now had techniques to deal with such situations and a better sense of which situations to avoid altogether.
Kozlowicz said David came into the program just under a year ago with about five or six other individuals. Of the group, David moved along the most quickly through the program.
“He got his fees all paid, he also was just a hard worker. He kept moving ahead on his objectives. He didn’t have any relapses,” Kozlowicz explained.
“I figure this is a success. He was one of the first people into the program and one of the first people out of the program, probably a little ahead of what we expected,” Kozlowicz added.
“He went through without any major problems. I think he was a person that came into it quite willingly.”
Kozlowicz said he expects the same of most participants in the program, with the next group of two or three set to graduate around Dec. 18.
“We do expect an overwhelming number of participants will be successful,” Kozlowicz said.
According to Kozlowicz, most people are expected to graduate in about a year total, as long as there are minimal relapses with alcohol use and financial hardships don’t prevent fines from being paid.
Currently, one of the participants is an Elkhorn resident that has progressed to the third phase of the program. He must complete random alcohol testing administered by the Elkhorn Police Department as part of the program, along with recording his objectives and finishing out the final phase of OWI Court.
