Circuit Court for Baltimore County
Third Circuit - Baltimore and Harford
• The Circuit Court for Baltimore County added an Adult Drug Treatment Court program in September 2021 to decrease drug-related crime by providing need-specific treatment for substance abusers. • The Circuit Court for Baltimore County added a new Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) screening process on October 1, 2021, that provides litigants in contested child custody cases with a trained and licensed social worker. The process involves a confidential intake interview conducted remotely, the responses to which are not available to counsel or the court. If the screening indicates a high level of IPV, a high danger assessment, a referral to a local domestic violence organization is completed. • On October 28, 2021, the Maryland Judiciary’s Equal Justice Committee (EJC), through its Community Outreach Subcommittee, hosted a virtual forum for Baltimore County on the topic of “Sentencing Alternatives for Defendants with Significant Drug and/or Alcohol Disorders.” The Community Outreach Subcommittee was joined in this effort by two local Community Partner organizations, the Baltimore County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Morning Star Baptist Church of Woodlawn, Maryland. The community partner organizations helped identify the topic, assisted in developing questions for the panelists and promoted the forum in the community.
Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts, Circuit Court for Baltimore County and Chair of the Equal Justice Committee (EJC) Community Outreach Subcommittee (lower left corner), is joined by Moderator Kimberly Y. Robinson, Esq. (upper right corner), community partner representatives, and panelists.
12 | Maryland Judiciary
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