May 28, 2025 • 25 mins
Judge Jim Goodwin lifts the veil on what recovery courts really are—not programs for first-time offenders as commonly misunderstood, but rather the last line of defense before long-term incarceration for those caught in addiction's grip. As Criminal Court Judge for the Second Judicial District in Sullivan County, Goodwin has transformed the landscape of rehabilitation in East Tennessee through innovative court programs that break the cycle of addiction and crime.
Goodwin's journey began during his 15 years as a prosecutor, including work with child abuse cases that left him seeking something positive to balance the emotional weight. This experience, coupled with his early exposure to the judiciary during law school, planted the seed for his eventual role as a judge. Taking office in 2014, he wasted no time establishing the region's first recovery court, accepting their first participant by spring 2015.
What makes this story particularly compelling is the evolution of recovery court services under Goodwin's watch. The original outpatient program has expanded to include a compliance docket for lower-risk individuals and residential programs housing up to 85 men in Roan Mountain and 12 women in Johnson City. The most striking testament to the program's effectiveness? Among 30-40 graduates over nearly a decade, only two participants have relapsed—an extraordinary success rate in addiction recovery work.
Behind the statistics lie powerful human stories, including a woman who was contemplating suicide in her jail cell while applying for the program. After initially going through the motions, something clicked, and she committed fully to recovery. Today, she's a regional manager who has regained custody of her children, helped her husband and sister overcome their own addictions, and even established support meetings in her community. As Judge Goodwin notes, many participants have never before had authority figures tell them they have value or recognize their achievements—something that proves transformative when combined with structure, support and accountability.
Ready to hear more inspiring stories of redemption through East Tennessee's innovative approach to addiction and criminal justice? Listen now and discover why Judge Goodwin calls his recovery court sessions "the best part of my work week."
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by
Jonathan and Steve fromBenchmark Home Loans.
Northeast Tennessee, johnsonCity, kingsport, bristol, the
Tri-Cities One of the mostbeautiful places in the country
to live.
Tons of great things to do andawesome local businesses.
(00:22):
And on this show you'll findout why people are dying to move
to Northeast Tennessee and onthe way we'll have discussions
about mortgages and we'llinterview people in the real
estate industry.
It's what we do.
This is Benchmark Happenings,brought to you by Benchmark Home
Loans.
And now your host, ChristineReed, and now your host
(00:43):
Christine.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Reed.
Well, welcome back everyone toanother episode of Benchmark
Happenings.
And you know we always have astar of the show and we like to.
(01:11):
We just love the fact that EastTennessee has so many amazing
people and public servants, andso today I am, I'm really
honored and to introduce ourguest today is Judge Jim Goodwin
.
Jim, thank you for being here.
It's my pleasure, and so Jim iswith the criminal.
He is a criminal court judge ofthe secondnd Judicial District
here in Sullivan County.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
So, jim, you know, and I always think about judges,
your honor and those kinds ofthings, and I had to write down
your title because I wanted tomake sure I didn't mess this up.
So I had your lovely wife on apodcast the other day and she
does photography, christina,good one, good one photography
and she actually told me thatyou started her.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I did In that I did.
I enjoyed photography sincehigh school and at the time I
started the business I was aprosecutor in Sullivan County
and I was doing child abuseprosecutions.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Oh my.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And those have a certain weight to them that you
can't shake.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I can't imagine.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So we started the business so that I'd have
something fun to do, and we madethe decision for me to shoot
weddings which started out assomething fun to do and then
became something else.
Yes, and I'll tell you what.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
and she took that and ran with it.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
She has.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
And she does such a wonderful job.
But you're a great teacher.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I couldn't be more proud of her.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, she gave you the credit for that because I
asked her.
I said, krista, how did you getinvolved in this?
And she said my husband.
So I think that's wonderful.
So you are a man of manytalents and you have been, and I
just can't think someone likeyou, jim, I just can't think
enough for putting yourself outthere in the community and doing
(03:01):
the work that you are doing,because it is a good work.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
And I know it's very hard.
It's very difficult and I can'timagine the weight of being a
judge.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I actually find it.
There's a weight to it, butit's completely different from
being a practicing lawyer orbeing a prosecutor, a practicing
lawyer or being a prosecutorthe fun part for me is, in
addition to photography andwe'll get into woodworking later
one of my other hobbies that Ican't do anymore was Little
(03:36):
League umpire.
Oh, so when I'm on the bench,the judge is sort of the umpire.
I'm calling the balls andstrikes in legal rulings and
whatnot and just making surethat the two sides play fair.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
That's a great analogy.
I never thought about that.
So, as you were a prosecutor,how long were you a prosecuting
attorney?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
14 years in Sullivan County and one year in Shelby
County.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
My goodness, okay.
And so where is home for you?
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised inElizabethton.
Oh, nice, okay, we love that.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
I'm a cyclone forever .
Speaker 4 (04:14):
A cyclone.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I'll tell you what they've got a good football team
.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Yes, yes, they do.
Some of my favorite people arefrom Elizabethton, so um, so you
just?
What made you decide to run tobe a judge?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I think the seed was planted back when I was in law
school I clerked for a circuitcourt judge in Shelby County.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
And, um, I just really enjoyed the experience,
and part of my job was to watchcourt proceedings and I was just
always drawn to the possibilityof one day working my way up to
be a judge.
Okay.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
So that was sort of what you wanted to do, and then
so, as you become a criminalcourt judge, you have also
brought something to our areathat I know, that you're proud
of and I'm proud of.
You actually came and presentedto our Tennessee Nurses
Association, and so I wanted totalk, ask you about drug court.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Because I think that is, I love what you're doing.
So tell us, because somebodymight hear that word drug court.
What does that mean Really,kind of from the beginning, Jim,
tell us about that.
How did it start?
What is it?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I'll define it first, okay, and then we'll talk about
how I developed the one forSullivan County.
Okay.
When I was running for election, one of my opponents because
there were four of us in theelection and one of my opponents
said that he was going to starta drug court, no matter what.
But he couldn't define what adrug court was.
(05:52):
He had no idea.
So that got me to looking intoit and my first thought was that
drug court is a program wherewe can get people, when they
first get into the criminaljustice system, who have a drug
addiction problem, and we canturn them around and they won't
(06:15):
come back yes, which isrecidivism, the whole point.
There's two points to drugcourt Get someone off of the
drugs yes, which saves theirlife.
And then keep them out of thecriminal justice system, which
saves the government and all thetaxpayers money.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So I got to looking into it, though, and I talked to
a judge in Nashville His namewas Seth Norman.
He was kind of the godfather ofrecovery court judges for the
state of Tennessee.
He's the one who startedrecovery courts in Tennessee and
I told him what I thoughtrecovery court was, and he
(06:53):
literally laughed.
And he wasn't laughing at meliterally laughed and he wasn't.
He wasn't laughing at me uh-huh, he was laughing because he had
heard so many peoplemisidentify what drug court was
what it is drug court isn'tdesigned to catch the people in
the front.
it's designed as a last resortbefore someone who is in the
(07:14):
throes of addiction and isinvolved in a criminal justice
system goes and serves a longprison sentence.
Oh okay, it's the last chancebefore you step off that ledge
into prison.
Mm-hmm.
And it's for a very specificpopulation of people who commit
crime and are addicted.
Okay, okay, and we'll talk moreabout that in a minute, mm-hmm,
(07:36):
mm-hmm.
So once I realized what it was,I took office September 1st of
2014.
So it's been almost 11 years,goodness.
And I immediately formed acommittee and a group and
started looking into what itwould take to have a recovery
court in East Tennessee.
The closest one at that timewas in Sevier County in the 4th
(08:02):
District, and so we went throughthat process and it was either
late April or early May of 2015,.
We took our first participantin the recovery court, so I'm
pretty proud about that.
Wow and as we sit here today, Ihave my outpatient court, which
is the courts that I firststarted in 2015.
(08:25):
We've started a compliancedocket.
So it's someone who doesn'tmeet the criteria to be in
recovery court but still has anaddiction problem and still has
criminal charges.
It's a lower program that wetry to save those folks before
they get to where recovery courtis.
(08:47):
And then just in the last yearand a half two years with Judge
Street and Judge Rice here inthe first district because we're
sitting here in WashingtonCounty so we're in their
district We've started aresidential program and we have
the men housed up in RoeMountain.
We've got about 40, 45 men upthere.
(09:10):
Oh, my and we've got 12 women ina residential house here in
Johnson City, which is 12 is allwe can take the men has the
capacity we can get to about 85.
And that's in Roan Mountain.
That's in Roan Mountain.
Okay, we took the old CarterCounty work camp which was run
(09:33):
by TDOC.
It was a prison.
And through a lot of steps andgood fortune, we were able to
lease that through thegovernor's office for a dollar a
year.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Oh my goodness.
Or $5 a year, I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
But we have access to that facility and we have a
residential recovery courtprogram up there now.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
That is great, but that's for men only right.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Roe Mountain's for men.
Okay, and it's the same program.
The women are in Johnson City.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, we're not putting men and women in Roe
Mountain.
Oh no, we don't want to do that.
We don't want to mix the two.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So you are, I mean.
So, I mean just thinking aboutwhat you've accomplished, you
know, and you've won your secondterm.
Right.
And so congratulations on that,and it's eight-year terms.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
right 22 was the election 22.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
So congratulations, thank you for what you're doing.
A lot of people, like you said,had talked about trying to do
something like this but reallyhad no concept of what it is.
So what is your and I hate tosay this because in
rehabilitation, I mean, you knowwe've been down that road with
family members, with you knowalcoholics and drug addicts and
(10:54):
you know you think about yourprograms and stuff.
So what are some of the storiesthat you can share?
Success stories of someone whowas actually came into the
program and their life turnedaround.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
OK, first let me say we've had Probably 30 to 40
graduates.
I don't have all the hardnumbers in front of me, that's
okay, and you know, I could tellby your question that you have
had some personal experienceeither with narcotic addiction
(11:30):
or alcohol addiction Right.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
I'm not saying you, but people you know.
Oh, family members.
Yeah, we've been through a lot.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And you know that, with people who are going
through addiction and addictionis a lifelong- it really is.
It's a lifelong disease,basically.
And so you know that, as peoplewalk through that path of
recovery, a lot of times theyget a couple of years into it
(11:59):
and then they go back.
Yes, you see it over and overthey get into it and they go
back.
So far, of all of our graduatesfrom my outpatient recovery
court, I think we've had two whohave gone back.
Wow, Out of the 30, between 30and 40 people.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And in our residential program we haven't
of the graduates we haven't hadanybody knock on wood and thank
God we haven't had anybody.
Yeah, so that's just.
I know it sounds like gosh goodwhen you've been running a
court to help people who are inaddiction for 10 years now and
(12:44):
you've only graduated like 30 or35, well, this program takes
almost two years to get through.
You lose people along the way.
Sure, that's just the way it ishuman nature.
Then we had COVID right in themiddle of way.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Sure, that's just the way, it is human nature, mm-hmm
Then we had COVID right in themiddle of that.
Yes, you know.
So everything got slowed, waydown, slowed down.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I am probably more proud to say that, other than
for a two-week period, my courtwas open and for a two-week
period, my court was open.
We couldn't have jury trials,but through video equipment and
just a lot of lawyers and courtpersonnel who were willing to
take on the work, we kept thedocket moving.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
I'm very proud about that, yes, as you should be,
because I know so many are sobehind and I know I have a
friend in Knoxville.
She's a paralegal and theypractice family law and it's
just.
I don't know what it was withCOVID, but everything escalated,
everything.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It did.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
If you had issues and problems it magnified?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It sure did, it did.
But back to your question yeah,there are several stories that
I could tell you, but there'sone story that I have to tell
you.
And this wasn't the firstperson in the program, but as
(14:16):
judges or the prosecutors, courtpersonnel, we'll see the same
names over and over the samepeople over and over.
And this was a name that wasknown to us.
Okay, and for confidentialityreasons, I'm not going to say
who Sure, yeah, but this was aname known to us and she applied
(14:37):
for recovery court.
And we're sitting around thestaffing table because the way
it works is a person applies andthen the group, we get
information about that person.
The coordinator does severalassessments to see where they
are and what their need is, whattheir risk is, and we're
(15:00):
sitting around that table andwe're like you know, this person
has applied, this personqualifies, this person will
never make it, Just won't.
We've seen this person over andover and over, yeah.
We know this person.
She's not going to make it Wow,but she qualifies.
(15:21):
So we're going to take a chance.
So we bring her into theprogram and probably for the
first month, month and a half,she's doing all the things that
we expected.
She's doing just enough to getby, not to get a sanction, not
getting any incentives orrewards.
(15:42):
And we get to a point andsomething and I wish I knew what
this was.
Yeah, but something in her mindflipped like a switch and from
that moment she excelled.
Wow, she graduated.
(16:04):
It took her almost two yearsbut she graduated.
Her husband was in addiction.
She helped to get him intorehab.
Dcs had taken her children.
She has her children back.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
How many children did she have?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I think, she had three.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Three.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
She as part of our program.
They have to work Well, shewent to work, turned that into a
regional manager's position fora local food chain.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
My goodness.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Her sister was really in addiction, really bad,
talked her sister into applying.
Well, her sister's done well,graduated, now has a job and was
recently promoted and hersister lives with her, was
(17:03):
recently promoted to a I don'tthink it's a manager, but it's
kind of a supervisor position atthe work where she works.
It's a quality control position.
Sure.
And so, yeah, I've had herspeak at a couple of my
graduations.
Mm-hmm.
And after the first one we weretalking, and as the judge and
(17:29):
we'll talk a little bit moreabout this because I won't
explain it but I have personalinteraction with these folks,
these participants, every week.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, these participants everyweek, okay, but I don't really
have the opportunity and reallyshouldn't, while they're going
through the program, get to knowtheir personal story and become
(17:51):
friendly with them, because Istill have to be the judge, I
still have to be that person inauthority.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
It's boundaries.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
It's boundaries, professional boundaries, yes.
So I found out that she wassitting in her jail cell when
she started, when she wasfilling out the application,
that she was trying to decide,while she was filling that out,
if she was going to go throughwith the application process or
kill herself.
That's where she was.
It was either that or suicide.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
It was do or die.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And she decided I'm going to do this.
And she said she told me this.
She said I knew that I wouldnot make it.
I knew I wouldn't, but I couldget out of jail and that's the
big thing we have to worry about.
But I could get out of jail andthen I could decide which path
I wanted to take.
(18:47):
And I said what happened thatyou did so great?
She said after that month and ahalf that you've talked about,
she said for some reason, andshe couldn't put her finger on
it.
But she decided well, if I'mgoing to be here, I might as
(19:09):
well try.
And once she made that decision, it was the sky's the limit for
her.
Her and her husband have sincestarted an NA or an AA meeting
in the Bristol area.
Wonderful, I mean.
She is doing so well, so well.
(19:29):
And she was right there on theprecipice of do I live or die?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Yeah, and I mean even when you all were looking at
her application.
You're like she's not going tomake it.
Yeah, and I mean even when youall were looking at her
application.
You're like she's not going tomake it.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, I was convinced that there was no way that she
would make it.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
You know, sometimes I have to think a lot of times
that it's the mighty hand of God.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
There's no question.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
That picks people up, and what I love about her story
that you've shared is, you knowwhat, when somebody makes their
mind up that they're going todo something, they can do it
they can.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
And the thing about the participants that I deal
with they've never had an adultperson, number one.
Tell them that They've neverhad an adult or a person of
authority.
Tell them that they've done agood job.
Tell them that they're worthsomething.
(20:27):
Yes, and that's every, 100%.
Every single person that I'vedealt with in my court comes
from that place in my courtcomes from that place.
Now, I don't always know whythey started down their path of
addiction.
Right, just choosing that Somepeople you know.
(20:49):
I know that when I was lookinginto drug court my mindset was
wrong because I thought peoplewho are in addiction chose to go
out here and party and do drugsand then, just by the nature of
that beast, they becameaddicted.
I can't tell you how manypeople are come into my court
(21:14):
and say well, I had a car wreckand I was prescribed certain
drugs.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And from that point on I was addicted.
Addicted and then it went fromwhatever opiate they were
prescribed, to potentiallyheroin, to potentially
methamphetamine, and now it'sfentanyl.
Fentanyl scares me to death.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Yes, it is scary.
I mean it's so powerful.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
It'll kill you like that.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Instant.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
In a heartbeat.
Mm hmm, yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Well, Jim, I mean, this is just being there.
There's more we really need totalk about and I'm just going to
have to bring you back onanother podcast.
I'll be glad to do it Because Ithink just real quick I know
we've got a couple of minutesbefore we go what are some other
things you would like to share,just for people to know about
(22:11):
what you're doing?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
That's a question I hadn't anticipated, but I'm
really glad you asked.
Because the thing about thefolks who are in my recovery
court I hear so many employersout there and hopefully there
will be employers who listen tothis, yes, who say, oh well,
they've got a criminal record orthey're fighting addiction.
(22:35):
I don't want them anywhere nearmy business.
Well, people in my recoverycourt get drug tested three
times a week, so they're notgoing to have you know, most
employers, they'll drug testwhen you get hired.
They might drug test you once ayear.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Or if you have an accident.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Get drug tested?
Yeah, three times a week, threetimes a week in the beginning,
and then, it goes down Threetimes a week.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
They get three times a week in the beginning and then
it goes down.
But they're always getting drugtested once or twice a week for
the time that they're in theprogram.
Yes, it's the whole RonaldReagan trust.
But verify you, tell me you'renot using.
I'm going to trust you.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Yeah, but we're going to do this test Once you earn
it, but I'm also going to giveyou a drug test, absolutely,
absolutely, and I will tell youthe people who have taken a
chance and hired.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
our participants have been thrilled, so if you're an
employer out there and you havethe chance to hire a drug court
participant, whether it's frommy outpatient program or some of
the people from the residentialprogram.
Take a chance, give us a chance, yes, and we'll blow your mind.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I love that.
Thank you, jim, for sharingthat, and that's so important
because you know we want people.
I mean, I just love theproductivity of the stories that
you shared and you know of whatpeople are actually doing now.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, and I tell participants all the time, and
Judge Rice and Judge Street tellthem this as well.
Tomorrow is my busiest daybecause I have a regular docket.
I have 10 rocks, which is thelower program.
I have my residential programduring the lunch hour between
(24:21):
sessions of court, and then Ihave to go to Roe Mountain
tomorrow afternoon.
Wow.
And I'll probably be up thereuntil eight or nine o'clock
tomorrow night having court upthere.
But it's also when I go intorecovery court and those folks
are doing well.
It is the best part of my workweek Wow, the best part.
That's week Wow, the best part.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
That's great.
That is great.
Well, Judge Goodwin, thank youfor being on today.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
It's been my pleasure .
Speaker 4 (24:48):
God bless you, thank you, and thank you for the good
and godly work that you're doingand helping to change people's
lives.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Thank you, I appreciate it people's lives.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
This has been BenchmarkHappenings, brought to you by
Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reedfrom Benchmark Home Loans.
Jonathan and Steve areresidential mortgage lenders.
They do home loans in NortheastTennessee and they're not only
licensed in Tennessee butFlorida, georgia, south Carolina
and Virginia.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
If you did make sure to likerate and review.
(25:24):
Our passion is NortheastTennessee, so if you have
questions about mortgages, callus at 423-491-5405, and the
website iswwwJonathanAndStevecom.
Thanks for being with us andwe'll see you next time on
Benchmark Happenings.
This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by
Jonathan and Steve fromBenchmark Home Loans.
Northeast Tennessee, johnsonCity, kingsport, bristol, the
Tri-Cities One of the mostbeautiful places in the country
to live.
Tons of great things to do andawesome local businesses.
(00:22):
And on this show you'll findout why people are dying to move
to Northeast Tennessee and onthe way we'll have discussions
about mortgages and we'llinterview people in the real
estate industry.
It's what we do.
This is Benchmark Happenings,brought to you by Benchmark Home
Loans.
And now your host, ChristineReed, and now your host
(00:43):
Christine.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Reed.
Well, welcome back everyone toanother episode of Benchmark
Happenings.
And you know we always have astar of the show and we like to.
(01:11):
We just love the fact that EastTennessee has so many amazing
people and public servants, andso today I am, I'm really
honored and to introduce ourguest today is Judge Jim Goodwin
.
Jim, thank you for being here.
It's my pleasure, and so Jim iswith the criminal.
He is a criminal court judge ofthe secondnd Judicial District
here in Sullivan County.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
So, jim, you know, and I always think about judges,
your honor and those kinds ofthings, and I had to write down
your title because I wanted tomake sure I didn't mess this up.
So I had your lovely wife on apodcast the other day and she
does photography, christina,good one, good one photography
and she actually told me thatyou started her.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I did In that I did.
I enjoyed photography sincehigh school and at the time I
started the business I was aprosecutor in Sullivan County
and I was doing child abuseprosecutions.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Oh my.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And those have a certain weight to them that you
can't shake.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I can't imagine.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So we started the business so that I'd have
something fun to do, and we madethe decision for me to shoot
weddings which started out assomething fun to do and then
became something else.
Yes, and I'll tell you what.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
and she took that and ran with it.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
She has.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
And she does such a wonderful job.
But you're a great teacher.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I couldn't be more proud of her.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, she gave you the credit for that because I
asked her.
I said, krista, how did you getinvolved in this?
And she said my husband.
So I think that's wonderful.
So you are a man of manytalents and you have been, and I
just can't think someone likeyou, jim, I just can't think
enough for putting yourself outthere in the community and doing
(03:01):
the work that you are doing,because it is a good work.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
And I know it's very hard.
It's very difficult and I can'timagine the weight of being a
judge.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I actually find it.
There's a weight to it, butit's completely different from
being a practicing lawyer orbeing a prosecutor, a practicing
lawyer or being a prosecutorthe fun part for me is, in
addition to photography andwe'll get into woodworking later
one of my other hobbies that Ican't do anymore was Little
(03:36):
League umpire.
Oh, so when I'm on the bench,the judge is sort of the umpire.
I'm calling the balls andstrikes in legal rulings and
whatnot and just making surethat the two sides play fair.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
That's a great analogy.
I never thought about that.
So, as you were a prosecutor,how long were you a prosecuting
attorney?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
14 years in Sullivan County and one year in Shelby
County.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
My goodness, okay.
And so where is home for you?
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised inElizabethton.
Oh, nice, okay, we love that.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
I'm a cyclone forever .
Speaker 4 (04:14):
A cyclone.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I'll tell you what they've got a good football team
.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Yes, yes, they do.
Some of my favorite people arefrom Elizabethton, so um, so you
just?
What made you decide to run tobe a judge?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I think the seed was planted back when I was in law
school I clerked for a circuitcourt judge in Shelby County.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
And, um, I just really enjoyed the experience,
and part of my job was to watchcourt proceedings and I was just
always drawn to the possibilityof one day working my way up to
be a judge.
Okay.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
So that was sort of what you wanted to do, and then
so, as you become a criminalcourt judge, you have also
brought something to our areathat I know, that you're proud
of and I'm proud of.
You actually came and presentedto our Tennessee Nurses
Association, and so I wanted totalk, ask you about drug court.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Because I think that is, I love what you're doing.
So tell us, because somebodymight hear that word drug court.
What does that mean Really,kind of from the beginning, Jim,
tell us about that.
How did it start?
What is it?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I'll define it first, okay, and then we'll talk about
how I developed the one forSullivan County.
Okay.
When I was running for election, one of my opponents because
there were four of us in theelection and one of my opponents
said that he was going to starta drug court, no matter what.
But he couldn't define what adrug court was.
(05:52):
He had no idea.
So that got me to looking intoit and my first thought was that
drug court is a program wherewe can get people, when they
first get into the criminaljustice system, who have a drug
addiction problem, and we canturn them around and they won't
(06:15):
come back yes, which isrecidivism, the whole point.
There's two points to drugcourt Get someone off of the
drugs yes, which saves theirlife.
And then keep them out of thecriminal justice system, which
saves the government and all thetaxpayers money.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So I got to looking into it, though, and I talked to
a judge in Nashville His namewas Seth Norman.
He was kind of the godfather ofrecovery court judges for the
state of Tennessee.
He's the one who startedrecovery courts in Tennessee and
I told him what I thoughtrecovery court was, and he
(06:53):
literally laughed.
And he wasn't laughing at meliterally laughed and he wasn't.
He wasn't laughing at me uh-huh, he was laughing because he had
heard so many peoplemisidentify what drug court was
what it is drug court isn'tdesigned to catch the people in
the front.
it's designed as a last resortbefore someone who is in the
(07:14):
throes of addiction and isinvolved in a criminal justice
system goes and serves a longprison sentence.
Oh okay, it's the last chancebefore you step off that ledge
into prison.
Mm-hmm.
And it's for a very specificpopulation of people who commit
crime and are addicted.
Okay, okay, and we'll talk moreabout that in a minute, mm-hmm,
(07:36):
mm-hmm.
So once I realized what it was,I took office September 1st of
2014.
So it's been almost 11 years,goodness.
And I immediately formed acommittee and a group and
started looking into what itwould take to have a recovery
court in East Tennessee.
The closest one at that timewas in Sevier County in the 4th
(08:02):
District, and so we went throughthat process and it was either
late April or early May of 2015,.
We took our first participantin the recovery court, so I'm
pretty proud about that.
Wow and as we sit here today, Ihave my outpatient court, which
is the courts that I firststarted in 2015.
(08:25):
We've started a compliancedocket.
So it's someone who doesn'tmeet the criteria to be in
recovery court but still has anaddiction problem and still has
criminal charges.
It's a lower program that wetry to save those folks before
they get to where recovery courtis.
(08:47):
And then just in the last yearand a half two years with Judge
Street and Judge Rice here inthe first district because we're
sitting here in WashingtonCounty so we're in their
district We've started aresidential program and we have
the men housed up in RoeMountain.
We've got about 40, 45 men upthere.
(09:10):
Oh, my and we've got 12 women ina residential house here in
Johnson City, which is 12 is allwe can take the men has the
capacity we can get to about 85.
And that's in Roan Mountain.
That's in Roan Mountain.
Okay, we took the old CarterCounty work camp which was run
(09:33):
by TDOC.
It was a prison.
And through a lot of steps andgood fortune, we were able to
lease that through thegovernor's office for a dollar a
year.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Oh my goodness.
Or $5 a year, I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
But we have access to that facility and we have a
residential recovery courtprogram up there now.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
That is great, but that's for men only right.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Roe Mountain's for men.
Okay, and it's the same program.
The women are in Johnson City.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, we're not putting men and women in Roe
Mountain.
Oh no, we don't want to do that.
We don't want to mix the two.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So you are, I mean.
So, I mean just thinking aboutwhat you've accomplished, you
know, and you've won your secondterm.
Right.
And so congratulations on that,and it's eight-year terms.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
right 22 was the election 22.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
So congratulations, thank you for what you're doing.
A lot of people, like you said,had talked about trying to do
something like this but reallyhad no concept of what it is.
So what is your and I hate tosay this because in
rehabilitation, I mean, you knowwe've been down that road with
family members, with you knowalcoholics and drug addicts and
(10:54):
you know you think about yourprograms and stuff.
So what are some of the storiesthat you can share?
Success stories of someone whowas actually came into the
program and their life turnedaround.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
OK, first let me say we've had Probably 30 to 40
graduates.
I don't have all the hardnumbers in front of me, that's
okay, and you know, I could tellby your question that you have
had some personal experienceeither with narcotic addiction
(11:30):
or alcohol addiction Right.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
I'm not saying you, but people you know.
Oh, family members.
Yeah, we've been through a lot.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And you know that, with people who are going
through addiction and addictionis a lifelong- it really is.
It's a lifelong disease,basically.
And so you know that, as peoplewalk through that path of
recovery, a lot of times theyget a couple of years into it
(11:59):
and then they go back.
Yes, you see it over and overthey get into it and they go
back.
So far, of all of our graduatesfrom my outpatient recovery
court, I think we've had two whohave gone back.
Wow, Out of the 30, between 30and 40 people.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And in our residential program we haven't
of the graduates we haven't hadanybody knock on wood and thank
God we haven't had anybody.
Yeah, so that's just.
I know it sounds like gosh goodwhen you've been running a
court to help people who are inaddiction for 10 years now and
(12:44):
you've only graduated like 30 or35, well, this program takes
almost two years to get through.
You lose people along the way.
Sure, that's just the way it ishuman nature.
Then we had COVID right in themiddle of way.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Sure, that's just the way, it is human nature, mm-hmm
Then we had COVID right in themiddle of that.
Yes, you know.
So everything got slowed, waydown, slowed down.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I am probably more proud to say that, other than
for a two-week period, my courtwas open and for a two-week
period, my court was open.
We couldn't have jury trials,but through video equipment and
just a lot of lawyers and courtpersonnel who were willing to
take on the work, we kept thedocket moving.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
I'm very proud about that, yes, as you should be,
because I know so many are sobehind and I know I have a
friend in Knoxville.
She's a paralegal and theypractice family law and it's
just.
I don't know what it was withCOVID, but everything escalated,
everything.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It did.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
If you had issues and problems it magnified?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It sure did, it did.
But back to your question yeah,there are several stories that
I could tell you, but there'sone story that I have to tell
you.
And this wasn't the firstperson in the program, but as
(14:16):
judges or the prosecutors, courtpersonnel, we'll see the same
names over and over the samepeople over and over.
And this was a name that wasknown to us.
Okay, and for confidentialityreasons, I'm not going to say
who Sure, yeah, but this was aname known to us and she applied
(14:37):
for recovery court.
And we're sitting around thestaffing table because the way
it works is a person applies andthen the group, we get
information about that person.
The coordinator does severalassessments to see where they
are and what their need is, whattheir risk is, and we're
(15:00):
sitting around that table andwe're like you know, this person
has applied, this personqualifies, this person will
never make it, Just won't.
We've seen this person over andover and over, yeah.
We know this person.
She's not going to make it Wow,but she qualifies.
(15:21):
So we're going to take a chance.
So we bring her into theprogram and probably for the
first month, month and a half,she's doing all the things that
we expected.
She's doing just enough to getby, not to get a sanction, not
getting any incentives orrewards.
(15:42):
And we get to a point andsomething and I wish I knew what
this was.
Yeah, but something in her mindflipped like a switch and from
that moment she excelled.
Wow, she graduated.
(16:04):
It took her almost two yearsbut she graduated.
Her husband was in addiction.
She helped to get him intorehab.
Dcs had taken her children.
She has her children back.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
How many children did she have?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I think, she had three.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Three.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
She as part of our program.
They have to work Well, shewent to work, turned that into a
regional manager's position fora local food chain.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
My goodness.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Her sister was really in addiction, really bad,
talked her sister into applying.
Well, her sister's done well,graduated, now has a job and was
recently promoted and hersister lives with her, was
(17:03):
recently promoted to a I don'tthink it's a manager, but it's
kind of a supervisor position atthe work where she works.
It's a quality control position.
Sure.
And so, yeah, I've had herspeak at a couple of my
graduations.
Mm-hmm.
And after the first one we weretalking, and as the judge and
(17:29):
we'll talk a little bit moreabout this because I won't
explain it but I have personalinteraction with these folks,
these participants, every week.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, these participants everyweek, okay, but I don't really
have the opportunity and reallyshouldn't, while they're going
through the program, get to knowtheir personal story and become
(17:51):
friendly with them, because Istill have to be the judge, I
still have to be that person inauthority.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
It's boundaries.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
It's boundaries, professional boundaries, yes.
So I found out that she wassitting in her jail cell when
she started, when she wasfilling out the application,
that she was trying to decide,while she was filling that out,
if she was going to go throughwith the application process or
kill herself.
That's where she was.
It was either that or suicide.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
It was do or die.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And she decided I'm going to do this.
And she said she told me this.
She said I knew that I wouldnot make it.
I knew I wouldn't, but I couldget out of jail and that's the
big thing we have to worry about.
But I could get out of jail andthen I could decide which path
I wanted to take.
(18:47):
And I said what happened thatyou did so great?
She said after that month and ahalf that you've talked about,
she said for some reason, andshe couldn't put her finger on
it.
But she decided well, if I'mgoing to be here, I might as
(19:09):
well try.
And once she made that decision, it was the sky's the limit for
her.
Her and her husband have sincestarted an NA or an AA meeting
in the Bristol area.
Wonderful, I mean.
She is doing so well, so well.
(19:29):
And she was right there on theprecipice of do I live or die?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Yeah, and I mean even when you all were looking at
her application.
You're like she's not going tomake it.
Yeah, and I mean even when youall were looking at her
application.
You're like she's not going tomake it.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, I was convinced that there was no way that she
would make it.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
You know, sometimes I have to think a lot of times
that it's the mighty hand of God.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
There's no question.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
That picks people up, and what I love about her story
that you've shared is, you knowwhat, when somebody makes their
mind up that they're going todo something, they can do it
they can.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
And the thing about the participants that I deal
with they've never had an adultperson, number one.
Tell them that They've neverhad an adult or a person of
authority.
Tell them that they've done agood job.
Tell them that they're worthsomething.
(20:27):
Yes, and that's every, 100%.
Every single person that I'vedealt with in my court comes
from that place in my courtcomes from that place.
Now, I don't always know whythey started down their path of
addiction.
Right, just choosing that Somepeople you know.
(20:49):
I know that when I was lookinginto drug court my mindset was
wrong because I thought peoplewho are in addiction chose to go
out here and party and do drugsand then, just by the nature of
that beast, they becameaddicted.
I can't tell you how manypeople are come into my court
(21:14):
and say well, I had a car wreckand I was prescribed certain
drugs.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And from that point on I was addicted.
Addicted and then it went fromwhatever opiate they were
prescribed, to potentiallyheroin, to potentially
methamphetamine, and now it'sfentanyl.
Fentanyl scares me to death.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Yes, it is scary.
I mean it's so powerful.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
It'll kill you like that.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Instant.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
In a heartbeat.
Mm hmm, yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Well, Jim, I mean, this is just being there.
There's more we really need totalk about and I'm just going to
have to bring you back onanother podcast.
I'll be glad to do it Because Ithink just real quick I know
we've got a couple of minutesbefore we go what are some other
things you would like to share,just for people to know about
(22:11):
what you're doing?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
That's a question I hadn't anticipated, but I'm
really glad you asked.
Because the thing about thefolks who are in my recovery
court I hear so many employersout there and hopefully there
will be employers who listen tothis, yes, who say, oh well,
they've got a criminal record orthey're fighting addiction.
(22:35):
I don't want them anywhere nearmy business.
Well, people in my recoverycourt get drug tested three
times a week, so they're notgoing to have you know, most
employers, they'll drug testwhen you get hired.
They might drug test you once ayear.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Or if you have an accident.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Get drug tested?
Yeah, three times a week, threetimes a week in the beginning,
and then, it goes down Threetimes a week.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
They get three times a week in the beginning and then
it goes down.
But they're always getting drugtested once or twice a week for
the time that they're in theprogram.
Yes, it's the whole RonaldReagan trust.
But verify you, tell me you'renot using.
I'm going to trust you.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Yeah, but we're going to do this test Once you earn
it, but I'm also going to giveyou a drug test, absolutely,
absolutely, and I will tell youthe people who have taken a
chance and hired.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
our participants have been thrilled, so if you're an
employer out there and you havethe chance to hire a drug court
participant, whether it's frommy outpatient program or some of
the people from the residentialprogram.
Take a chance, give us a chance, yes, and we'll blow your mind.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I love that.
Thank you, jim, for sharingthat, and that's so important
because you know we want people.
I mean, I just love theproductivity of the stories that
you shared and you know of whatpeople are actually doing now.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, and I tell participants all the time, and
Judge Rice and Judge Street tellthem this as well.
Tomorrow is my busiest daybecause I have a regular docket.
I have 10 rocks, which is thelower program.
I have my residential programduring the lunch hour between
(24:21):
sessions of court, and then Ihave to go to Roe Mountain
tomorrow afternoon.
Wow.
And I'll probably be up thereuntil eight or nine o'clock
tomorrow night having court upthere.
But it's also when I go intorecovery court and those folks
are doing well.
It is the best part of my workweek Wow, the best part.
That's week Wow, the best part.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
That's great.
That is great.
Well, Judge Goodwin, thank youfor being on today.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
It's been my pleasure .
Speaker 4 (24:48):
God bless you, thank you, and thank you for the good
and godly work that you're doingand helping to change people's
lives.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Thank you, I appreciate it people's lives.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
This has been BenchmarkHappenings, brought to you by
Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reedfrom Benchmark Home Loans.
Jonathan and Steve areresidential mortgage lenders.
They do home loans in NortheastTennessee and they're not only
licensed in Tennessee butFlorida, georgia, south Carolina
and Virginia.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
If you did make sure to likerate and review.
(25:24):
Our passion is NortheastTennessee, so if you have
questions about mortgages, callus at 423-491-5405, and the
website iswwwJonathanAndStevecom.
Thanks for being with us andwe'll see you next time on
Benchmark Happenings.
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