Council authorizes state grant for regional drug court after judge outlines low recidivism

The Taylor City Council authorized the mayor to sign a FY 2026 grant agreement for the 20th-3rd District Court’s hybrid DWI/drug court program, covering Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026.

Council invited the presiding judge to explain the program. Judge Shackleford said the court offers court-supervised treatment and wraparound services to people with substance-use disorders and that the program has been state-certified and recently recertified. “For similarly situated individuals who aren’t in a treatment court program, the recidivism rate within a three-year period is about 24 to 26 percent,” the judge said. “Our graduates from our treatment court program have a recidivism rate of about 3 percent.”

The judge said capacity is constrained by judicial resources: the program currently has about 54 participants and typically ranges up to 75; at one point it reached about 110 when additional bench resources were available. She said funding is always a need because participants often face housing, transportation and medical barriers that the program helps address using grant funds.

A council member asked how many people the program assists annually; the judge replied that participant counts vary with judicial capacity and that the court uses grant funds for direct costs and to help remove barriers to recovery. The council approved the authorization for the mayor to sign the grant by voice vote.

The authorization allows the city to accept and administer the state grant for the district court; no additional funding or implementation details beyond the grant term were specified at the meeting.