Albany County commissioners to consider Men’s Health Week proclamation, treatment court contract

Albany County commissioners were set to consider a $381,386 contract that would keep the county’s court supervised treatment program funded from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028. The agreement, with the Wyoming Judicial Branch, would keep in place a treatment court option for high-risk substance users who have committed criminal offenses, a program designed to pair court supervision with treatment instead of jail time.

The Albany County Court Supervised Treatment Program, also known as Drug Court, is built around intensive treatment and supervision for people with drug or alcohol addiction. County materials describe it as an alternative treatment path meant to reduce recidivism and return productive individuals to the community. The participant handbook says the program includes treatment, supervised probation, case management and peer support, which makes the contract more than a line item. It is the funding that keeps a specialized court-based recovery track operating for the next two budget years.

The program has been part of Albany County’s justice system since 2004, and county background materials say it serves rural Albany County, where Laramie is the largest town. That same overview points to long-running local pressures tied to heroin and fentanyl treatment admissions, along with drug-related arrests and convictions. Without the program, people entering the criminal justice system through circuit or municipal court would more often face fines and fees, limited supervision or detention, rather than a structured treatment pathway.

Albany County’s website lists a dedicated team behind the program: Program Director Heather Carter, Adult Case Manager Chanda Dougherty, Diversion Case Manager Adam Sittner, Juvenile Case Manager Taylor Ballard and Office Assistant David Bois. The county also has been layering funding around treatment services, including a late-2025 State Opioid Response amendment listed at $493,800 through September 30, 2026.

The same June 10 agenda also included a proclamation designating June 15-21 as Men’s Health Week. The calendar lines up with the national observance, which runs June 14-21 in 2026 and carries the theme “Partners in Care: For Better Lifespans Across the Lifespan.” In Albany County, the pairing of the proclamation with the treatment court contract put public health and the justice system on the same agenda, underscoring how the county continues to use both symbolic recognition and funded programs to address health, behavior and public safety.

Wyoming’s treatment courts were moved to the Judicial Branch effective July 1, 2024, under a statewide reorganization that also adopted new treatment court standards. The Judicial Branch says those courts are intended to reduce costs, improve public safety and reduce recidivism, and Albany County’s contract shows how that statewide structure continues to reach local courtrooms in Laramie and across the county.