News Photo by Julie Riddle Judge Aaron Gauthier presides over the 53rd Circuit Court on Monday. Gauthier oversees the Presque Isle County Swift and Sure program, which celebrated its first two graduates on Monday.

ALPENA — Two graduates of the Presque Isle County Swift and Sure program left the county’s courthouse on Monday, finished with a gruelling program meant to keep them from coming back to the courtroom.

The program, introduced in the county in 2018 and revitalized in 2020, targets non-violent felony offenders with a history of probation violations or failures. Living up to its name, the program dishes out brief, but immediate and certain jail time for probation infractions.

On Monday, the program’s first two graduates were congratulated and sent on their way after completing the intensive program that includes frequent random drug testing and mandated check-ins with probation staff.

The Swift and Sure program — one of 24 such programs in the state — keeps people out of jail and helps curb reoffending, said Judge Aaron Gauthier, who oversees the program.

It doesn’t replace a drug court that’s still a need in the county, though, he said.

The two graduates — one of whom was headed for prison if he didn’t stick with the terms of his probation — are leaving the program with employment and their sobriety, able to stay in their community and a step closer to getting back on track, Gauthier said.

The goal of the Swift and Sure program — to keep high-risk offenders from committing further crime — is similar to that of problem-solving courts, such as drug, veteran, or juvenile courts.

The program’s means of reaching that goal, however, are different, Gauthier said.

Problem-solving courts offer solutions tailored to the individual participants. By law, Swift and Sure programs can’t be personalized, Gauthier said.

Unlike a problem-solving court, Swift and Sure meets out an instant response to a probation violation. Instead of the weeks or even months it takes for courts to address a typical probation violation, infractions by those in Swift and Sure programs are addressed within hours.

If participants admit they have violated probation terms, they get an automatic three days in jail.

If they deny the violation and demand a hearing — which is held within 72 hours — and are found guilty, they spend 15 days behind bars.

Not everyone sticks it out.

In 2019, only two out of five participants successfully completed state Swift and Sure programs, while more than a third were unsuccessfully discharged for noncompliance.

Still, the program keeps people from lengthy stays behind bars while they learn how to comply with rigorous probation terms.

Program graduates statewide in 2019 averaged two court sanctions during their time in the program for violations that, outside of the program, could have resulted in a heavy response of jail or prison.

Recent criminal justice reform pushes at the state level produced several legislative changes in late 2020 meant to keep people out of jail when possible.

Programs like Swift and Sure fit well into the state’s plans to reduce jail populations by providing alternatives to incarceration, Gauthier said.

Though the probation program has been able to help some probationers regain their footing, Presque Isle County still needs a drug court, Gauthier thinks.

Problem-solving courts, with greater flexibility than Swift and Sure programs, have many tools with which to leverage a combination of discipline and encouragement, from essay assignments to gift card incentives.

As overseer of Cheboygan County’s drug court, Gauthier has gotten creative with participants, including ordering one to spend the day with him, getting an inside glimpse of the work of the courts.

Presque Isle County doesn’t have the drug crime caseload to support its own drug court, but the Cheboygan County drug court could be expanded to include Presque Isle County, Gauthier said.

He hopes to secure state funding to make that possible by 2023.