As soon as Tooele County’s drug court was dismissed Tuesday night, a lady with gray hair, well-dressed and groomed, made her way to the front of the courtroom. She pushed the swinging gate open and approached drug court therapist and counselor Terry Bates. The lady waited a moment for Bates to finish a conversation with a colleague, then flung her arms around Bates with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you, I thought she was dead,” said the lady, referring to her daughter Sarah Hughes.

It was the kind of happy ending seen often after drug court graduations.

Hughes, along with five others, graduated Tuesday night from the county’s five-year-old drug court program. The program takes individuals that are facing felony drug convictions with no record of violence or sex-offenses and gives them a chance to turn their lives around through a combination of weekly court appearances, supervision of adult probation and parole officers, and individual and group counseling, according to Bates.

Graduations are held quarterly. The typical graduating class is three or four, according to Bates.

Tuesday there were a lot of tears and smiles as each graduate took a few minutes to address a courtroom full of drug court staff, parents, and friends. Each described their life before drug court, the struggle they went through to complete drug court, and their hopes for the future.

Trevor McNiven described his $1,400-a-month marijuana addiction as being miserable and unhappy.

Laura Turner talked of suffering withdrawals in jail before joining an opiate addiction group as part of her drug court therapy.

Some graduates admitted that when they entered drug court their first thought wasn’t on changing their entire life.

“I wasn’t that sincere when I first entered drug court,” said Tanya Anderson. “I was just going to do what I had to get out of the program. In time that changed to wanting to stay sober and finally I learned to enjoy life and what it has to offer.”

Stephanie Robertson described how wonderful it felt to now have goals and aspirations for the future. She has lived in the same place for two years and said she’s become a much better mother to her children.

Sarah Hughes wanted to get her GED and eventually become a drug therapist to help others.

“Those who have not had to crawl out of this hell will never know what it is like,” said Hughes. “I want to help others like I was helped.”

The program requires structure and discipline, said Bates. Missed court appearances or being late for counseling sessions can earn participants jail time.

“It is set up as at least a 13-month program, but the time it takes to complete depends on the individual,” Bates said.

Tuesday’s graduating class ranged from 400 to 700 days of sobriety among graduates.

District Court Judge Stephen Henriod presides over drug court. Henriod has only been in Tooele since May, but he has been on the bench for 14 years and has worked with the drug court program in Salt Lake County. He said through the therapeutic justice of drug court, offenders receive treatment rather than incarceration — which helps them beat their addictions and avoid re-offending.

“I hope you realize that you are a work in progress,” Henriod told the graduates. “Use the skills that you have learned every day. Come back and visit, but please, not on the criminal calendar.”

“This is one of the best things I get to do as county attorney,” said Tooele County Attorney Doug Hogan. “It makes us happy to see lives turned around. The graduates of the program sell the program to the community.”

Jason Penrose, now 532 days clean, is happy that even though he has graduated he may continue to attend classes with Bates.

“I have learned valuable tools for life, not just gotten treatment,” Penrose said.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com