Pulaski County’s veterans treatment court continues to get statewide recognition. Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush highlighted the progress of the state’s problem-solving courts during her annual State of the Judiciary address Wednesday.
“Pulaski County Judge Crystal Kocher developed a veterans court last year after recognizing her rural community was being ravaged by methamphetamine and heroin,” Rush said. “Judge Kocher told me, ‘I wanted a non-adversarial approach to treating the drug and mental health epidemic, and I knew we could be effective with a team approach to making our community better.’ It was the April certification of her problem-solving court that brought us to the 100 mark.”
Rush said Indiana is now up to 107 problem-solving courts. The chief justice also highlighted the state’s pretrial release reforms and judges’ efforts to combat the opioid addiction epidemic, while calling on lawmakers to increase funding for legal aid.
