Specialty Court

Otsego County’s court system has two specialty courts that handle adult offenders from both the Circuit Court and District Court. The two courts are Drug Court and Mental Health Court. Although separate in funding and reporting to the Michigan Supreme Court, the two courts operate as a single recovery court program that is called Otsego County Recovery Court. The District Court Chief Judge is assigned to handle all Recovery Court cases.


The cases assigned to this specialty court are staffed bi-weekly by a Recovery Court Team comprised of the judge and professionals from the court, prosecutor’s office, probation, parole, treatment providers, community mental health, social services and community corrections.


Brief descriptions and goals of these two courts are:


Otsego County Drug Court: The mission of the drug court is to stop the abuse of alcohol and other drugs and related criminal activity. The judge, court administrator, prosecutor and defender, along with representatives from treatment provider agencies, law enforcement, probation services, and other community-based organizations work together to develop a plan for treatment and rehabilitation of chronic drug offenders. Defendants have the right not to participate in the drug court but to remain instead on the criminal court docket and try the merits of their case.


Otsego County Mental Health Court:+ In a partial response to concerns regarding the large numbers of individuals with mental illnesses in jails and prisons, this court was created to assist defendants with a history of mental illness or who behave in a way that suggests they have a mental illness. A mental health court has a dedicated judge, social worker, probation officer, and court liaison to the treatment community.  Defendants have the right not to participate in the mental health court but to remain instead on the criminal court docket and try the merits of their case.


For further information about Otsego County’s Recovery Court system, please contact the court administrator at 989-731-0228.