Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent D. Benjamin and Governor Joe Manchin III signed administrative orders on Friday, September 18, 2009, establishing the Northern Panhandle Re-Entry Court.

 The ceremony took place in the courtroom of First Circuit Circuit Judge Martin J. Gaughan in the Brooke County Courthouse in Wellsburg.

 The Northern Panhandle Re-Entry Court is a joint pilot program between the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the West Virginia Division of Corrections.

 The Re-Entry Court is designed to reduce the population in state prisons by providing early release for eligible offenders who have serious addiction or mental health issues. Participants are required to attend at least a year of intensive out-patient treatment sessions, under the supervision of a parole officer, and to regularly appear in court.

 At the ceremony, Chief Justice Benjamin said seventy percent of West Virginia's prisoners are non-violent offenders and the Re-Entry Court will help change their lives.

 Participants are chosen by the Re-Entry Court supervising judge, based on recommendations from the Division of Corrections and Parole Board. No one who has been convicted of a sexual offense is eligible. Those who have escaped or attempted to escape from a correctional institution and those who have recently committed a serious rule violation in a correctional facility also are barred from participating.

 For the pilot program, all participants must reside in the First Circuit of Brooke, Hancock, or Ohio Counties.

 Judge Gaughan is the presiding judge of the Re-Entry Court. As the presiding judge, he provides each participant with the same supervision and mentoring as is currently provided in Drug Courts. Drug Courts throughout West Virginia defer offenders into treatment and rehabilitation programs before they go to prison while the Re-Entry Court is for those who have already served part or all of a prison sentence.

 The Re-Entry Court program has three phases, each involving treatment and education. The third phase also includes re-establishing employment and housing. Rewards and court-imposed sanctions are used to encourage participants to establish a sober lifestyle.

 Chief Justice Benjamin, Justice Thomas E. McHugh, Governor Manchin, and Judge Gaughan spoke at the ceremony. Justice Menis E. Ketchum also attended the ceremony.

 
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