Circuit Judge Phillip Stowers spoke to Putnam Rotarians today at their luncheon meeting at Scarlet Oaks. Pictured (left to right} are Cheryl Rust, Laberta Salamacha, Stowers, and Glen Clark.

Hon. Phillip M. Stowers A drug court "will save a lot of kids"

April 28, 2009

The new circuit judge in Putnam County is frustrated with the limited resources for juvenile offenders, and the Hon. Phillip M. Stowers, who began his new duties less than four months ago, has made application for a juvenile drug court grant.

The program would provide personnel for closer supervision and counseling for troubled juveniles and their families.

"I have to work extra hours to have a drug court, and I think that's why there's a lack of commitment with some judges to have such a program," he said.

But with a juvenile drug court, those under jurisdiction of the court would be drug-tested every week. "I will meet with each of the teams every week, but it's an effective plan and I think it will save a lot of kids."

Stowers already has added special advocates for abuse and neglect cases, he told Putnam Rotarians today, "because it's important for the court to have the most information it can have."

Stowers says that he already drug-tests all truants. "If you get a petition filed in the court that you're not going to school, and the court finds that you are truant, then I drug-test you.

"If you test positive, I increase the enforcement and supervision.

"I've even drug-tested a few parents [who were] not letting their kids go to school," he added, and paused as applause erupted from the audience.

"I recently appointed a guardian ad litem [to act on behalf of] for an unborn child, because I wanted to make sure the child was [protected]."

With O. C. Spaulding, the other judge on the 29th Circuit, Stowers has a harmonious relationship. "If he has things he needs to do related to people I have in front of me, I move those cases to him so they can be more expeditiously handled," he explained.

"For example, if I have a case where a meth lab was found and the children were taken out of the home, I will also get the meth lab cases of the adults charged with the crimes . . . And that way I can [determine] one solution between what happens to the parents and what happens to the children."

It is not an alignment, Stowers hastened to say, but "if we can get the docket under control, it's better for you, it's better for business, it's better for people who can count on the certainty of the decision-making of the court.

"You see everything," he continued. "You see things that you'll never see unless you've had this experience yourself.

"I've had kids come to me and say, 'Judge, I know you're drug-testing me, and I haven't been using drugs; but my parents smoke marijuana and I'm afraid I'll be held for being in their house.'"

Stowers says he sends some troubled youngsters for weekend stays at the Shell Center for 24 or 48 hours. "I tell them that while they're there to look around and see if that's where they want to be. It's not a 'scared straight' program; it's a 'scared period' program.

"When I was in private practice," he said, "I tried cases in six or seven different states. I tried cases in 15 West Virginia counties in front of 25 or 30 different judges. There's one thing I know how to do and that's how to try cases."

As soon as he took his judicial seat, the new judge reviewed the files of all cases more than two years old. "I have set every case that's more than three years old down for trial or dismissed it for failure to prosecute, or had hearings on it to resolve it for trial.

"My criminal docket is completely clear. I have never continued a criminal case since I've been on the bench. You get indicted -- you either plead your crime or you have your trial.

"If there's a complex issue, I'm never going to prejudice anyone's rights," he said.

But the court will not grant a continuance just because someone wants more time. Persons indicted by a grand jury are going to trial quickly, he insisted.

Stowers likes the opportunities of his new duties. It's better than being a 'policy' person in the Legislature or on the school board, he told the group. "As a judge you decide what happens.

"Just about every day -- and sometimes ten or fifteen times a day, depending on what the calendar brings -- I get to make a difference in someone's life."