New Way to Recovery Drug Court Docket holds 9th graduation ceremony

The ninth graduating class of the New Way to Recovery Drug Court Docket of the Highland County Common Pleas Court was recognized at a ceremony Sunday, Aug. 9, with this class including seven graduates.

The group included Chris Brigner, Katie Creed, Brian Duncan, Allen Greene, Tyler Hunley, Mandy Knisley and Kyle May.

The first drug court session was held in August 2019, and the program includes four phases that take a minimum of 18 months to complete.

According to Highland County Probation Program Director/Chief Probation Officer and Drug Court Coordinator Tonya Sturgill, this summer’s graduating class brings the total to 68 individuals who have successfully completed the program thus far.

The guest speaker for the ceremony was one of those graduates, Kari Price, who entered the program in June 2022 and graduated in October 2024.

The latest class of graduates includes individuals who were admitted to the drug court docket in 2022, 2023 and 2025, as Sturgill highlighted the progress all eight graduates have made through the program, as she said several of them had long histories with the court and probation department.

“It is these men and women who put in the hard work every single day to not only stay substance free but to accomplish so many great things along the way,” Sturgill said.

Two of the graduates — Duncan and Greene — earned the Hammond Award. At their May 2025 ceremony, the drug court introduced this as a new award in honor of an accomplishment that a would-be graduate, Josh Hammond, had during his tenure with the program before passing away in February before his graduation. The Hammond Award is now presented to all graduates who successfully complete the program with no positive drug tests.

According to Sturgill, Duncan and Greene joined the program the same week in January 2025. Sturgill said that Duncan successfully completed both residential and outpatient treatment and transitional living and is now working full time with no positive drug tests. 

Sturgill said that Greene had a nearly 14-year history with the probation department when he entered the drug court docket but that she “could tell something was different this time.” Like Duncan, Greene successfully completed his treatment with no positive tests and is now a “responsible, hardworking productive member of society,” she said.

According to Sturgill, the graduate with the longest history with probation was Knisley, as she said Knisley’s joke is her “longest-running relationship” of 20 years is with her probation officer. Since joining the drug court docket in 2023, Knisley has successfully completed treatment and is “now working in the treatment field and sharing her story with others,” Sturgill said.

Two graduates who joined the docket in 2022 were Creed and May. For Creed, Sturgill said she has seen a “dramatic change in her confidence and self-esteem,” with Creed being “independent, well-spoken and insightful all while managing to balance her recovery with her college education and full-time employment.” 

May had a “remarkable journey” with “incredibly difficult times and the loss of loved ones” during his time with the program but is graduating after having “completed residential treatment, transitional living, the STAR program and has obtained gainful employment,” Sturgill said.

Hunley, who entered the drug court docket in 2023, went from someone who “thought he had it all figured out and wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of others making decision for him” to someone who “embraced his counseling and his new way of life,” Sturgilll said. That included finishing “the STAR program, residential treatment, transitional living and outpatient counseling,” then obtaining his driver’s license and finding employment. 

Brigner, who had the shortest time in the program after entering in February 2025, had “been on probation since age 15” and had “five prior prison numbers” when he joined the drug court docket, Sturgill said. She said she was proud of how Brigner started out seeming “mad at the world” and is graduating after completing treatment and finding employment while also becoming “a confident, hardworking, respectable member of society with a bright future ahead of him.” 

As previously reported, according to Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss, “the mission of the drug court docket is to enhance public safety by preventing recidivism; assisting participants in taking responsibility for their behavioral health issues by turning them from a path of self-destruction to a path of recovery; creating a continuum of approved treatment and rehabilitation services through community programs that meet the needs of participants; and using evidence-based practices in intervention and treatment of substance abuse and other co-occurring mental disorders or medical issues that offenders may have.”

Sturgill thanked Coss for his continued efforts to ensure the program’s success.

Also thanked were Jon Parr and Kim Davis of the Probation Department, whom Sturgill says “are the constant presence our participants know they can always count on” for support, as well as the treatment providers who assist with the program. 

Sturgill also recognized the families and loved ones of the graduates for their role in the recovery process. 

“Every graduation reminds us that recovery is never a journey someone walks alone,” Sturgill said.

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