Chief district judge thanks Dare County for recovery court funding, urges expansion and continued support

Chief District Court Judge Robert Trevitt addressed the Dare County Board of Commissioners during public comment on June 9 to thank them for five years of funding the county’s adult treatment court (recovery court) and to ask for continued local and inter-county political support to expand the program across the judicial district.

Trevitt said recovery courts target people with a substance‑use disorder who have high needs and high risk of reoffending; he cited national evidence showing recovery courts reduce recidivism by over 25 percent compared with jail-only responses. “You have saved lives,” he told the commissioners, adding that recovery courts take a chronic‑disease view of addiction and use a two‑year program of treatment and judicially supervised incentives and sanctions.

Trevitt said he and court partners recently attended a national recovery court conference and recommended adjustments to the county’s program to improve assessment, calibrate incentives and sanctions, and strengthen exit planning. He asked commissioners to encourage neighboring counties and their elected officials to participate; he said he hopes to replicate the Dare County model in Currituck, Elizabeth City and other counties in the first judicial district.

Commissioners and court staff present thanked the judge and recovery‑court partners and offered to help in discussions with other counties and with legislative contacts. No formal vote or funding request was taken at the meeting.