In 1998, Cleveland Municipal Court accepted a federal grant to establish a Cleveland Drug Court. Simply put, drug courts are judicially supervised court dockets that provide a sentencing alternative of treatment combined with supervision for people living with serious substance use.
This specialized docket was presided over by the Honorable Larry A. Jones until his election to the Eighth District Court of Appeals in 2008. In 2009, The Honorable Anita Laster Mays assumed the position of Drug Court judge and presided over the docket until the end of 2014, when she joined Judge Jones on the Court of Appeals. Following Judge Mays departure, the Honorable Lauren C. Moore took over the docket and continues that role today.
Drug Court may be offered to a felony offender charged with a fourth- or fifth-degree-level possession of a controlled substance, who has only one non-violent felony conviction and is chemically-dependent. Defendants are required to enter a plea of “guilty” to a first-degree misdemeanor. The sentence is held in abeyance pending successful completion of the program. Upon successful completion of Drug Court and payment of a supervision fee, a participant’s guilty plea is vacated, the charge(s) dismissed and the case sealed or expunged.
Almost 1,900 people have successfully completed the program, which became known as the Greater Cleveland Drug Court since it expanded to a number of suburbs benefitting not just the individuals involved, but also the community in which they live. Average treatment typically costs approximately $3,000, while the cost of six months of incarceration averages $14,000.
Because of the program’s success, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court has formally adopted the program and on April 11, 2014 the Greater Cleveland Drug Court received Specialized Docket Certification from the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Twenty-five years after its inception, on October 26, 2022, the Greater Cleveland Drug Court was renamed the Judge Larry A. Jones Drug Court in honor of its first presiding judge. The renaming ceremony took place at Cleveland City Council Chambers, the very place Judge Jones began his political career as a City Councilman in 1981.
Honorable Lauren C. Moore
The Judge Larry A. Jones Drug Court Judge
Lauren C. Moore began presiding over Drug Court in January 2015. The oldest of four children, she followed the footsteps of her father, Attorney William D. Moore, who built a practice dedicated to helping low and middle-class working families. Judge Moore graduated from Shaker Heights High School and received her bachelor’s degree in English from Spelman College. She earned her juris doctorate at Case Western Reserve University.
Having passed the Ohio State Bar in 1987, Lauren embarked on a political career where she served as both a civil attorney and public defender. She served as Chief Prosecutor for the City of Cleveland and as an Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor. Her ultimate goal of becoming a judge materialized when she was elected to the Cleveland Municipal Court in 2003. Full biography.
The Judge Larry A. Jones Drug Court Advisory Board
For more information about the Judge Larry A. Jones Drug Court please contact :
Emily Gibbs
Program Coordinator
The Judge Larry A. Jones Drug Court
(216) 664-6656
gibbse@cmcoh.org