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Monroe Municipal Court cites therapy-based programs, higher recidivism and state funding in 2024 report
Summary
Judge Jessica Ness told the City Council that Monroe Municipal Court expanded its domestic violence and therapeutic court programs in 2024, described program outcomes and funding, and recommended continued local support and state grants to sustain personnel-heavy operations.
Judge Jessica Ness of Monroe Municipal Court presented the court’s 2024 annual report to the Monroe City Council on Tuesday, summarizing caseloads, treatment programs and grant-funded operations.
The report said Monroe Municipal Court handles misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors and traffic infractions. “Misdemeanor charges are those that are punishable by up to 90 days in jail up to a $1,000 fine,” Ness said, and gross misdemeanors “are those that are punishable by up to a year in jail, up to a $5,000 fine.”
Ness highlighted two programs: the Domestic Violence Moral Reconation Therapy program (DV-MRT) and the court’s therapeutic (community) court. Ness said DV-MRT is a 24-week group curriculum called Bringing Peace to Relationships that “seeks to reduce recidivism by increasing moral reasoning.” Probation counselor Brad Cotton leads the class; the court reported 7 graduates in 2024 after four graduates the first year. Ness told council one graduate “said the program helped him maintain his sobriety and that he was daily using the tools learned in the program.”
On the therapeutic court, Ness described a model that evaluates entrants for substance use disorder and connects participants to local resources including mental health treatment, housing, benefits and education. The court’s materials reported a tracked recidivism rate of 87 percent since the program’s inception and noted a cited national average of about 58 percent. Ness said the therapeutic court approach aims to “end the cycle of this revolving door” by addressing underlying causes of offending.
Ness gave two participant examples she said illustrated the program’s effect: a person identified as “Carmela” who received grief counseling, theft-awareness classes and restorative community service and who “said the program changed her life,” and a person identified as “Brandon” who, with a social worker’s help, received inpatient treatment and housing and is participating in outpatient recovery supports.
Ness told council the program is funded with state grant dollars and that the grant period referenced runs from January 2022 through June 30, 2025. She said the largest portion of the funding is allocated to personnel — judge time, program coordinator, court administrator, prosecutor and public defender — and that a state program analyst reviewed and praised the local program during a site visit. “She told us that she’d never seen a program like ours,” Ness said.
Council members responded with praise for the programs and the court team. Councilmember Fisher said he appreciated “all of your work” and that Monroe appears to be “leading the way with this.” Councilmember Walker described attending a community court session and noted the visible “hope” among participants when staff, prosecutors and defenders work together.
Ness closed by thanking council and staff for support and said she was available for questions.
