Hawkins Judge Building Fund He Hopes Will Someday Pay For Halfway House

ROGERSVILLE — Hawkins County Sessions Court Judge J. Todd Ross’ Recovery Court program guided 25 offenders through completion of long-term rehabilitation programs in 2018. Those patients spent 9-18 months making productive use of their time in a rehab program rather than wasting it in jail, but the next concern after rehab is if those patients continue to succeed. On Tuesday, Ross shared with Hawkins County commissioners his goal of creating a halfway house in the county to helping recovering addicts succeed after treatment. Ross appeared before the Budget Committee on the last of three days of hearings for the 2019-20 fiscal year budget. The only changes to the Sessions Court and Recovery Court budgets were mandated salary scale bumps for his staff, as well as the state-mandated annual pay increase for the judge. Recovery Court operates on a $50,000 state grant, which basically covers the salary and benefits of program director Amy Cinnamon. Any additional expenses are covered from a restricted account in the budget for alcohol and drug treatment which receives $100 from the fines paid by anyone convicted of DUI in Hawkins County. County Finance Director Eric Buchanan said that fund currently has $289,520. “My hope is that when we get to the point where we have resources to handle it, I would like to ask for that money to be transferred into the Hawkins County Recovery Court foundation to purchase a home to be used as a halfway house for some of our Recovery Court people who don’t have anywhere to go,” Ross told the commission.