The surest way to provoke a judge’s wrath may be to show up in court for a preliminary hearing and test positive for drug use.

A couple of people found that out the hard way Wednesday when they made appearances in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

Jason Carpenter, 32, of 515 County Road 3, Chesapeake, was in court for a pretrial conference. Judge Charles Cooper now requires defendants who are out of jail on bond to be drug tested at each court appearance.

Adult Probation Officer John Sexton told Cooper that Carpenter tested positive for benzodiazepine use, a drug for which Carpenter has no prescription. Common names of benzodiazapines are xanax, klonipin and valium. Cooper tripled Carpenter’s cash or surety bond from $5,000 to $15,000 and doubled his own recognizance (OR) bond from $10,000 to $20,000.

“What about real estate?” Carpenter’s attorney, Warren Morford, asked Cooper. Cooper agreed to a $30,000 property bond in the case. Carpenter is charged with felonious assault and theft.

Similarly, David Woodyard, 19, of 213 Township Road 1163, Proctorville, tested positive for marijuana use.

Assistant Lawrence County Prosecutor Jeff Smith said Woodyard had tested positive for drug use on a previous occasion and had three times failed to show up for court hearings. Cooper ordered Woodyard’s cash or surety bond raised to $25,000 and his OR bond raised to $20,000.

Cooper agreed Woodyard could post a $50,000 property bond in place of the cash or surety bond. Woodyard is charged with theft of a firearm.

Also Wednesday Steven Horsley, 32, of 4114 Skidmore St., Ashland, Ky., admitted he violated his probation, also known as community control sanctions, by not reporting to the probation office and testing positive for use of Lortab and marijuana.

Cooper sentenced him to nine months in prison. Horsley was on probation for a drug conviction.

Billy Booth, 25, of 429 County Road 41, Proctorville, pleaded guilty to theft and forgery charges. Judge D. Scott Bowling sentenced Booth to four years community control sanctions under intensive supervised probation (CCS/ISP) and ordered him to complete an outpatient drug treatment and 200 hours of community service.

Elizabeth Rymer, 24, of 417 Solida Road, South Point, pleaded guilty to two felony charges of receiving stolen property; two misdemeanor counts of theft, five misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass, one misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property and one misdemeanor count each of obstructing official business, misuse of a credit card and criminal mischief.

Bowling sentenced her to four years CCS/ISP and ordered her to successfully complete a program at the STAR Community Justice Center.

Bowling also ordered Rymer to complete 200 hours of community service and pay $1,105 restitution to three victims.