Ironton Municipal Court Judge Kevin J. Waldo has announced the Ironton Municipal Court received notification from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections that the court has been awarded grant funds that total $336,776 for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.

The Ironton Municipal Court has received over $1,000,000 in grant funds and awards since Judge Waldo came to the bench in 2018.

These funds received from the state are used by the court to fund the Ohio Supreme Court Certified Specialized Drug Court operated by Waldo at the Ironton Municipal Court since April 2018.

The monies received also provide the court with drug screening materials, electronic monitoring systems, ankle bracelets, workbooks, drug/alcohol abstinence materials, intoxilyzer equipment, medical staff personnel and Drug Court personnel, including therapeutic team leaders and life coach personnel.

Waldo’s Drug Court is called the Second Chance Drug Court Recovery Program. He believes in second chances and is extremely pleased with the Drug Court’s successful operation.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections’ main goal with the grant money awarded to Ohio courts is to focus on giving low level felony criminal defendants of non-violent crimes an opportunity to rehabilitate their lives without incarceration.

Since participating in this effort in 2018, the Ironton Municipal Court has allowed over 100 criminal defendants a “second chance” by reducing a low-level felony charge to a misdemeanor, thus reducing the overcrowding jail population and providing intensive probation for the qualifying criminal defendant.

Waldo is very pleased with the results of this effort and looks forward to continued cooperation with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections in a joint effort to improve the quality of life in here in Ironton and Lawrence County.