02-08-S IN RE: DRUG COURT - DRUG COURT TEAM MEMBERS PROHIBITED FROM CONTACTING DRUG COURT PARTICIPANTS’ EMPLOYER WITHOUT COURT ORDER OR SPECIFIC CONSENT - ORDERED 1/16/2002 BY BRUCE W. JACOBUS
Whereas, a Drug Court Program was commenced on July 10, 2001, in Seminole County, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, and that said program plans to utilize federal funding to operate and has, in fact, applied for grant funding, and Whereas, in order to qualify for federal funding, it is imperative that the Drug Court Team members be trained and operate said program pursuant to the guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Drug Court Programs, and Whereas, as part of said directive, it is necessary that the Drug Court Program observe and be governed by the Code of Federal Regulations Public Health, Chapter 42, Part 2 which sets forth rules and regulations regarding disclosure of participant’s records and physician/patient confidentiality, and Whereas, as a goal of the Drug Court Program is, together with drug treatment, to rehabilitate its participants and to assure that they are employable throughout the program and that they possess the necessary skills to maintain employment after graduation, and Whereas the Drug Court Team members shall not, pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations Public Health, Chapter 42, Part 2, contact any drug court participants’ employer or prospective employer regarding the participants’ involvement in Drug Court or his/her arrest on criminal charges, it is thereupon ORDERED AS FOLLOWS:
- That without a court order entered upon a showing of good cause or the execution of a “contact authorization” by the Drug Court participant, no member of the Drug Court Team shall directly or indirectly contact an employer or any prospective employer of a Drug Court participant for any reason whatsoever without the prior written permission of the court.
This administrative order authorized by Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2.020(c) and is not a local court rule as defined in Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2.020(b).
DONE AND ORDERD this 16th day of January 2002.