The Douglas County Adult Drug Court celebrated its 118^th Drug Court graduation in Omaha on September 22, 2022, at the Omaha-Douglas Civic Center. There were 13 graduates recognized for their successful completion of the program’s stringent requirements, which include sustained abstinence from the use of controlled substances and alcohol, satisfactory participation in a substance-abuse treatment program, completion of education and employment objectives established by the Adult Drug Court’s clinical staff, and frequent performance review conducted by the Adult Drug Court judges.  Presiding Adult Drug Court Judges Tressa M. Alioth, Timothy P. Burns, Todd O. Engleman, and Leigh Ann Retelsdorf hosted the ceremony.  This ceremony brings the total number of participants who have graduated from the Adult Drug Court program to 2,119 since its inception.

The Douglas County Adult Drug Court was implemented in April 1997 to divert non-violent, substance-abusing felony offenders into a comprehensive, judicially supervised program of substance-abuse treatment, urinalysis monitoring, and case management, to include referral and follow-up with employment, educational, and other self-improvement goals. The legal staff of the Douglas County Attorney must review an offender’s application for admission to the Adult Drug Court, and one of the Adult Drug Court judges must then approve that application. The offender is required to (1) acknowledge having a substance-abuse-related problem; (2) agree to participate in fully and complete substance-abuse treatment; (3) agree to satisfy all requirements of the Adult Drug Court, including completion of educational and employment objectives established by the Adult Drug Court’s clinical staff; and (4) enter a plea to the charged offense, with the imposition of a sentence being suspended pending the offender’s successful completion of the Adult Drug Court program.

There are currently 140 participants active in the Adult Drug Court program. In addition, no fewer than 142 drug-free babies have been born to drug-free mothers participating in Adult Drug Court. The Adult Drug Court has proven to be an innovative, cost-effective program to assist substance-abusing individuals in making life-changing differences for themselves, their families, and the community. We are proud to be able to honor the Adult Drug Court graduates through this demonstration of achievement.

For additional information, please contact:

Teresa Noah, Drug Court Coordinator
Phone: (402) 599-2665                              Email: Teresa.noah@dc4dc.com