Contact: Ed Ferenc
Public Information Officer
Cleveland Municipal Court
216 664 6787 / 216 789 2597
ference@cmcoh.org www.cmcoh.org

(Cleveland) – Twenty-five years after its inception, the Greater Cleveland Drug Court was renamed the Judge Larry A. Jones Drug Court on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 following a two hour ceremony and graduation at Cleveland City Council Chambers, the very place Judge Jones began his political career as a City Councilman in 1981.Judge Jones, who presided over Drug Court for 10 years, died suddenly at the age of 68 on October 7, 2021.

Justice Melody Stewart from the Supreme Court of Ohio served as Mistress of Ceremony. Before she was elected to the state’s highest court, Justice Stewart served with Judge Jones on the Eighth District Court of Appeals.   



At least two dozen judges from various courts in Northeast Ohio, along with local elected officials and those involved in the formation of Drug Court were among the speakers.  The list included: Cleveland Municipal Court Administrative and Presiding Judge Michelle D. Earley, Judge Lauren C. Moore, who presided over the drug court since 2015, Cleveland Clerk of Court Earle B. Turner, Ward Eight Councilman Mike Polensek, Jess Wilson, the first Drug Court Coordinator and Cleveland Probation Officer Wallace Green, the architect of the Drug Court Program.     

To lead off the graduation ceremony, Jim Joyner of Joyner and Associates LLC talked about the stigma of substance abuse and how Judge Jones allowed the program to grow. The Reverend C. Jay Matthews, a long-time friend of Judge Jones, noted how the docket became his greatest accomplishment. Judge Jones presided over the drug court for ten years and during that time, over 750 people graduated from the program. 

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s All City Choir directed by Dr. David Thomas performed Judge Jones’ favorite song My Way which drew an emotional response from members of the Jones family who thanked those in attendance and helped hold up a banner showing the name of the docket in Judge Jones honor.

Judge Jones was the Administrative and Presiding Judge on the Cleveland Municipal Court from 1995 to the end of 2008, when he left the bench following his election to the appeals court. 

The opportunity to start Drug Court came in 1997 after the Common Pleas Court turned down grant money to start the specialized docket.  When the opportunity was presented to the Cleveland Municipal Court, the judges did not hesitate and voted to move forward and create the docket. 

In 1998 Judge Jones was selected by his colleagues to serve as judge of the Greater Cleveland Drug Court, a collaborative program of city and county agencies designed to hold drug offenders accountable, provide treatment resources to break the cycle of drug abuse and drug-related crime and to reduce recidivism.

With the ceremony on October 26, 1,889 people graduated from the program, with a majority of the participants living clean and sober lives today.