Three graduate from Belknap County Recovery Court

Matthew Burkhardt, Carrie Conway, and Melissa Keller graduated from the Belknap County Recovery Court program during a commencement ceremony at Belknap Superior Court in Laconia on Tuesday afternoon. Recovery court allows incarcerated individuals or those on probation experiencing substance misuse to enter a recovery intervention program for a minimum of two years. Recovery court is generally 12-18 months of treatment, followed by continuing care after graduation that can last between six and 12 months. Burkhardt transferred into the program from Strafford County in March 2024. Conway began the program in August 2023, and Keller started in January 2024. Recovery court participants must have a job, secure housing and build new personal relationships, cutting off harmful ones. Horizons Counseling Center, the County Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office, District and Superior courts, the jail, the Department of Corrections, and the sheriff's department all play a role in the program. Judge James Carroll presided over the program in 2012 as drug court, later renaming it to recovery court to reflect the solution, rather than the problem. Judge Elizabeth Leonard now presides over the program. Graduates gave speeches during the commencement to family, friends, co-workers, pastors and sponsors.