Underage drinking result in need to take a program

by Yosuke Takanashi
For The Post

Some people who have been caught drinking under the age of 21 have the chance to keep their records clean by participating in the Alcohol Violation Diversion Program.

The program consists of three parts: paying for and completing a three-hour seminar, completing 12 hours of community service and paying $150 for the diversion program, in addition to court costs.

"(The diversion program is) designed for first-time (underage drinking) offenders who haven't done anything too terrible and are charged with a possession of alcohol," Athens County Municipal Court Judge Douglas Bennett said.

The offenders have an opportunity to have their case delayed for 90 days in order to finish the program. The case is dismissed when they come back to court after completing the diversion program, Bennett said.

Health Recovery Services, Inc sponsors the three-hour seminar. It focuses on the role alcohol and drugs play in people's lives.

Participants complete their community service hours by picking up litter or working at a governmental agency.

If they do not participate in the diversion program, people charged with an underage drinking violation could be sentenced to jail for up to six months, or to pay up to $1,000 fine, Bennett said.

He said most participants do not return to court for the underage alcohol violation.

"We don't know that they don't get involved with underage drinking. What we do know is a trend not to show back in court," Bennett said. "That's the only way we can really measure it."

"Even if the percentage (of those who return) was much larger, I would still be in favor of the program because I think it provides an educational component that is ideally suited mainly for college students," Bennett said.

It also benefits offenders because they have a chance to avoid having a criminal conviction on their record, he said.

Bennett said underage drinking is not a once-a-year event.

"It's pretty much year around," he said. "Fall and spring seem to be a little bit heavier, because in fall we have Halloween and Homecoming, and in spring we have Palmerfest and Oakfest."

A few hundred people participate in the program each year, Bennett said.

Business supervisors who work with participants to complete community service hours said the program helps offenders develop a certain knowledge for what they did.

"It's good that they have to do some kind of community service not just to pay money, and that's it," said Marla Deriey, shelter manager of Cat Shelters, 8500 Hoon Drive.

Offenders clean the shelter and sometimes help her with some of medical things that she has to do, she said.

Participants also complete community service hours at New-To-You Shoppe, 9 W. Stimson Ave.

"We have community service workers everyday," said Kathi Lowe, manager of the shop. "They clean (the shop), sort and stock."