Syracuse City Court - Syracuse Community Treatment Court

Location & Hours

John C. Dillon Public Safety Building
511 South State Street, Room 117
Syracuse, N.Y. 13202

Telephone: 315-671-2795
Fax: 315-671-2745
Court is held every Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00 p.m.

Administration

Presiding Judge
Hon. Mary Anne Doherty

Resource Coordinator III
Brigid Stone
[email protected]

Syracuse Community Treatment Court

The mission of the SCTC is to improve the processing of drug cases through the expeditious entry of eligible defendants into judicially monitored drug treatment. A dedicated, coordinated program with direct judicial management serves as the center of a comprehensive criminal justice service continuum for substance abusing defendants. The SCTC is intended to improve the outcomes for drug dependant offenders, reduce criminality, improve the allocation of scarce criminal justice resources and promote public safety.

Eligibility Standards

  1. Eligibility for participation in the Syracuse Community Treatment Court is limited to
    individuals who:
    1. are charged with a non-violent instant misdemeanor or felony offense
    2. have no prior conviction for a violent felony;
    3. live in Onondaga County; and
    4. are found to have a chemical dependency diagnosis

Eligibility standards are verified by a review of police reports, rap sheets and a standardization
instrument, that confirms chemical dependency.

  1. The SCTC Resource Coordinator and case managers conduct the preliminary
    screening for eligibility. Enrollment in the SCTC requires the consent of the defendant, defense counsel, district attorney and the judge.
  2. Eligible offenses include both drug and non-drug, non-violent felony and misdemeanor offenses.
  3. Defendants charged with an otherwise eligible offense that meet the dependency
    criteria may request Judicial Diversion under Article 216 of the Criminal Procedure law in instances where the District Attorney's Office objects to a defendant's participation in Treatment Court.

Syracuse Community Treatment Court was designated to receive appropriate criminal
actions removed thereto from Onondaga County Town and Village courts pursuant to such
170.15(4). This allows for the transfer of misdemeanor cases in the Justice Courts to be
transferred to the Treatment Court for supervision and disposition.

Misdemeanor cases which meet the basic eligibility criteria for participation in drug court
should be referred to the drug Treatment Court office for initial chemical dependency screening. After evaluation the Project Director will contact the defense attorney, district attorney and Justice Court to report the findings.

If all parties agree that Treatment Court is an appropriate referral the Treatment Court staff will
initiate the process for removing the case from the Justice Court to the Treatment Court.

SCTC Contracts

The SCTC contract is signed by the defendant, defense attorney, district attorney and judge at
the participants initial appearance on the SCTC calendar. This constitutes formal enrollment
into the program, Formal enrollment generally occurs within one to two weeks of referral to the
SCTC calendar.

The basic contract requirements include:
compliance with directives of the clinical and SCTC case manager regarding treatment
and participation in other rehabilitative activities such as education or job training;

  • appearance required at all SCTC hearings
  • acceptance and fulfillment of any sanctions imposed by the SCTC judge
  • obeying all laws; and
  • compliance with other mandates of the SCTC including community service and
    Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT)