Mercer Vicinage to Hold Recovery Court Graduation

The Mercer Vicinage will hold its spring recovery court graduation ceremony on Tuesday, June 6 at 10 a.m. in the special proceedings courtroom on the fourth floor of the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse, 400 S. Warren St., Trenton. 

Superior Court Judge Sherry L. Wilson, who presides over the vicinage’s recovery court program, will address 11 graduates on their successes and accomplishments. Criminal Division Presiding Judge Peter Warshaw will host the ceremony and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes will address the graduates.

Brad Butler II, an award-winning international speaker, advocate, and life coach, will give the keynote address. 

The Judiciary’s recovery court program operates within the Superior Court to address nonviolent drug-addiction cases. The program requires completion of four phases of intensive drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. This level of supervision permits the program to support the recovery process, but it also allows supervisors to react swiftly to impose appropriate therapeutic sanctions or to reinstate criminal proceedings when participants do not comply with the program. 

The Mercer Vicinage started its recovery court program in 1999, and in 2014 joined five other vicinages in implementing mandatory recovery court, which is now statewide, for certain offenders. Since its inception, the vicinage’s recovery court program has graduated more than 328 participants. The program has been successful in breaking the cycle of addiction, improving the lives of individuals, their families, and benefiting the community. The vicinage’s recovery court program has 163 participants.