Collaborative Courts
Nevada County has a variety of collaborative courts. Collaborative courts represent a progressive approach to justice that prioritizes rehabilitation and community support over punitive measures. Each court addresses a client's particular risks and needs. We encourage all those who are eligible to participate in the collaborative courts to do so.
Adult Drug Court
Adult Drug Court (ADC) is a collaborative treatment court. Entry is for those people who are residents of Nevada County who are facing felony charges.
Criteria Eligibility
The criteria for eligibility into ADC are:
- You must be a resident of Nevada County;
- You must be willing to plead guilty to a felony charge or violation of felony probation for which a term of imprisonment will be imposed and execution suspended;
- Do not have any current or prior felony convictions for which the judge does not have discretion to grant probation;
- You must be willing to commit to a program length of at least 12 to 24 months with post-program completion probation supervision of 12 to 24 months;
- You must not have any other unresolved felony criminal charges here or in other jurisdictions.
- You must not currently be subject to registration pursuant to Penal Code Section 290.
- You must not have a history of excessive violence.
- You must be willing to submit to assessments by both the Probation Department and the Behavioral Health Department, as well as any other assessments that the court orders;
Applying for the Adult Drug Court
In order to apply to ADC, a defendant must fill out Adult Drug Court Application an application and release of information. The ADC Manual. has information about the program. Once you have filled out the application and release of information, submit them to the court. The court will distribute the documents to the ADC team. The DA will screen the defendant for eligibility. If the DA finds the defendant eligible, then the Probation Department and Behavioral Health department will do assessments to determine if the defendant meets the remaining criteria. Every defendant applying for ADC should review the Participant Handbook prior to submitting their application.
DUI Court
DUI Court focuses on offenders with either two DUI convictions within a 5-year period or with three or more lifetime DUI convictions. Participants receive treatment that focuses on alcohol use as a chronic disease. Please be advised that these are the latest manuals and handbooks and may contain inaccuracies.
DUI Court Participant Handbook
Mental Health Court
The Mental Health Court Program targets adults with mental illness and transitional-aged youth that have entered the justice system. The court program is a strong community collaboration model between the judicial system, law enforcement, probation and Behavioral Health. Offenders may be referred by a judge.