Lewis County Drug Court continues to thrive
May 6-Leaders of Lewis County therapeutic courts believe their program stands apart from many others across the state and the country thanks in large part to community support.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge J. Andrew Toynbee and Lewis County Drug Court Administrator Stephanie Miller gave a Drug Court update to the Lewis County Board of Commissioners during a business meeting Tuesday morning.
According to the report, the program is serving as many participants as it ever has, with 41 active participants. Most of those participants benefit from resources Lewis County Drug Court offers that others don't.
According to Toynbee, the report was inspired in part by support from the board of county commissioners, who last summer approved a request to contract with the Centralia Police Department for two compliance officers.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners approved that request in a meeting on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Before the approval, the program had gone nearly three years without a compliance officer, according to Toynbee.
"Our program was suffering because of that," he said.
"The compliance officers are something that sets our program apart," Toynbee added. "Not every drug court has that."
The Centralia Police Department has since assigned two officers - Adam Haggerty and Alan Bowers - to the program. As Miller has described in previous reporting by The Chronicle, compliance officers help the program conduct home checks and weekly or monthly check-ins. The position is also important to the administrators, because it can help Lewis County Drug Court participants develop a new and improved relationship with law enforcement.
Toynbee and Miller also touched on the Lewis County Drug Court house during the presentation as another resource for the local program that sets it apart from others. According to Toynbee, 34 of the court's 41 current participants started the program living in the home owned by the county.
That is more than 80% of all participants in the program.
"They're not back in their neighborhoods getting triggered by the things that cause them to come into our court," Toynbee said. "They have a safe place, and it's a supportive place. The people there are helping the new people."
Toynbee added that 76% of participants are also employed or attending school full-time and 58% are licensed and insured. Three participants recently received GED diplomas. Since January, six participants moved out of the Drug Court house into their own stable housing, seven completed substance use disorder treatment, and four received coins for a year of court-certified clean time.
Engaging with the community, participants with Drug Court recently helped out at the Lewis County Homeless Connect event at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds. Even more recently at the fairgrounds, participants helped set up the goat pens for the Spring Youth Fair and worked as security for the event, a job that Toynbee said was very important to the program and the participants.
"That is a big source of pride, both for our program and for our participants," Toynbee said. "They get to be kind of authority figures. They're trusted figures at the youth fair, providing security, and that's a major thing for them to gain trust back, and to have the community put trust in them."
The Lewis County Drug Court, like many in the state and across the country, offers individuals convicted of drug related offenses a structured path to vacating those sentences.
It requires sobriety, substance use disorder treatment, steady employment or education and many other essentials to help participants build a stable life.
Lewis County Drug Court is a felony diversion program where successful graduates have their criminal charges dismissed. The program typically lasts between 16 and 22 months, with participants receiving support and guidance from a team of professionals.
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