Doug OverbeyHamilton is among six counties statewide chosen to take part in a pilot project that gives drug court judges access to information in the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database to help ensure the success of program participants, according to a news release.
"This program is designed to give judges more tools in their tool box to assist those persons who suffer from addiction and who are in drug court treatment programs," said Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, a co-sponsor of the legislation allowing the program. "Currently, information contained in the database is confidential, blocking judges from important information that could lead to more successful outcomes."
Other counties included in the project are Sullivan, Sevier, Cocke, Jefferson and Grainger. To ensure the privacy and confidentiality of patient records, information obtained from the database by a drug court treatment program must be retained by the program director.
The judicial drug court districts selected for Tennessee's pilot program represent rural, semi-urban and urban areas. If successful, the legislation sponsors believe the pilot program could be extended statewide.