Recovery Court of Sumner County, Inc.

Recovery Court of Sumner County was founded in 2002 as an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent substance abusing offenders.   Our mission is to facilitate lasting recovery for individuals with addictions to drugs and alcohol, so they can become responsible citizens.  Our agency provides offenders with addiction issues with the opportunity to complete an intensive court-supervised recovery program.

The court-supervised recovery program helps offenders become accountable for their actions, brings about behavioral change, and protects the public from the harmful effects which substance abuse has on society.  As a result, incarceration rates are reduced, community safety is enhanced, and the cycle of addictions is reduced.

Our primary program is:

Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for offenders who are required to attend three classes per week, for 10 weeks, with regular and random drug and alcohol screening, weekly individual reviews with judges and two AA/NA meetings each week. Also, participants must seek stable employment and housing, obtain a sponsor, and comply with all program rules.

Other programs include:

1. Transitional housing for 26 Intensive Outpatient Program participants
2. Celebrating Families for program participants and families who choose to participate in this voluntary program which includes classes with a trained facilitator, socialization, and assistance with special needs.
3. Re-entry Program which is offered in coordination with staff at the jail and provides services for individuals who are re-entering society.  Services include counseling, housing placement and rent assistance, job interview training, and obtaining documents such as birth certificates or driving licenses. 

At this time, Recovery Court is only able to provide programs for 25% of the individuals who qualify and would benefit from the IOP classes and other programs. In the 2021 County Health Rankings, 18% of Sumner County residents reported excessive drinking and 24% of driving deaths had alcohol impairment. In 2019, 2,089 Tennesseans died of a drug overdose as compared to 1,818 in 2018. Rates of death from all drug overdoses in Tennessee increased from 31.2 in 2019 to 45.6 in 2020. Substance use and overdose events have a huge, long-term effect on society. They may result in physical and emotional distress, lost wages and productivity, shortened life spans and other negative effects. Recovery Court is changing the lives of the people we serve by enabling them to become sober, self-supporting, taxpaying members of our community.

Objectives are as follows:

1.  • Participants comply with all Recovery Court rules and regulations
2. • Participants have stable employment
3. • Participants test negative for drugs or alcohol
4. • Participants acquire suitable housing

Our overall goal is to equip our program participants with the skills and resources they need to be free from drug and/or alcohol addictions and to become responsible members of the community.