Marion County drug court's humble 'Wheel of Fortune' a light touch to a tough program

Walk the halls of the Community Justice Campus on any given weekday and you might struggle to find someone enthusiastic about having to show up to court.

Unless it’s a Thursday. At around 1:30 p.m. In Court D23.

The doors to the courtroom open, and out pours the sound of applause.

Marion Superior Judge Jose Salinas runs a drug treatment court that, according to one study, reduces the re-arrest rate for drug offenders. Inside, everything looks typical for a Marion County courtroom, except this: There’s a multi-colored prize wheel near the center of the room.

“Spin that wheel,” Salinas urges his clients, “see what it says.”

These are the prizes people can win

In this extremely pared-down game of chance à la “Wheel of Fortune,” there are no free cars or million-dollar windfalls. But the wheel and its prizes do elicit smiles and laughs from people pushing through addiction and myriad life challenges.

Prizes on the wheel include candy — KitKats are a court favorite — a standing ovation from peers and the option for their next court date to be remote. And, the arguable jackpot: a $25 Kroger gift card.

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People in the program get a chance to spin it if they have a good week. A “good week” means clean urine tests, no ghosting the court's case managers and making it to treatment groups.

Salinas uses the wheel to encourage people in both of his programs: re-entry court and drug court.

“Our clients have been in tough environments,” Salinas, who has been at the helm of Marion County’s drug court for 16 years, told IndyStar. “Many of them ... didn’t get acknowledged growing up as kids. They didn’t get told, ‘Good job,’ you know. ‘We’re proud of you.’”

IndyStar sat in on multiple sessions of drug court to see it in action.

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During one session, Salinas called up a woman who was making strides in the program. She spun the wheel. It ticked along, rotating in a blur, as she watched on intently. Then it stopped.

“Fist Bump From Judge.”

A smile flashed on her face. The audience laughed. Salinas extended his fist, and she gave it a light punch.

A program for 'hardcore' addicts

Drug court is best for criminal defendants who, in Salinas' words, are “hardcore” addicts. A Marion County deputy prosecutor typically decides which defendants get in.

The wheel is a light touch to an otherwise tough program.

Drug court can run for a year or longer. Once accepted, participants must undergo drug screens twice a week. For the first four months, they have to visit court once a week. As the year progresses, that frequency tapers to once every two weeks, then once a month.

Graduates earn something superior to any prize on the wheel. They get their charges dismissed.

Those who fall short, though, hear about it from Salinas. He can issue arrest warrants for no-shows.

During one hearing, Salinas called to his bench a woman who had skipped treatment.

“I got talked out of locking you up today,” he told her.

Salinas said he didn't want her to end up dead.

"And I don't wanna be dead," she responded.

Where'd the drug court prize wheel idea come from?

Every year, Salinas' court staff attends a summit hosted by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He assigns his team a task: “Give me two or three things you've picked up from the conference.”

In 2022, his staff gave him a peculiar report. Another court elsewhere in the country was using a "spin-to-win" wheel.

“Heck yeah,” Salinas remembered thinking. “Let’s do it.”

Candy and applause have always been part of his programs, but the judge thought the wheel was “cool” because it brings the motivation element up a level. They started using the wheel last fall.

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He acknowledges that some people get more into it than others. But overall, he thinks it brings value.

"We said, 'We have to add something else,'" Salinas said. "'For us to stay relevant and current, what else is out there?' And that's what we picked up, and I agree. I liked it."

What do people in drug court think about the wheel?

A 2013 report produced by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, which Salinas' staff gave to IndyStar, found that Marion County drug court reduces recidivism as a whole. Nineteen percent of program graduates were re-arrested two years after graduation, the report says, compared with 76% of participants who were terminated from the program.

Another report by IUPUI from 2016 found that over half of the clients were "highly satisfied" with the court's case managers. They reported Salinas as being a "positive influence" in the program.

One participant, Tara Roll, 51, told IndyStar she “probably would not be alive” if it weren’t for drug court. She came to a recent court hearing even though she didn’t have to be there in person.

“Judge’s always got something positive that just kinda pushes you through until the next week,” Roll said. “He personalizes it.”

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"I still need to hear those words, whether he's talking to me or he's talking to someone else.” She was there because she “need(s) that lift,” she said.

That, and the prize wheel.

“I love it,” Roll said when asked about the court’s new prop. “It's fun. It's a good incentive, and it just makes you happy.”

Another participant, Shemika Campbell, 32, felt similar. She once took home a coveted $25 Kroger gift card. “I’m like, ‘I’ll spin that again,’” she said, laughing. The day she spoke to IndyStar was the last day of her intensive outpatient rehab program.

Not everyone was quick to praise the wheel, though.

'You're not expecting to spin anything'

Heather Shaw, 46, was just a week away from graduating when she interviewed with IndyStar. She, too, comes in when she doesn't have to. She likes the familiar faces.

“When you go to court, you’re not expecting to spin anything, (let) alone spin a wheel to something cute,” she said. On the weeks when she didn’t make it to the “good group,” she remembered she “felt like crap.”

But, she later conceded, “the wheel thing is kinda rewarding.”

"Best thing on there is the candy and the gift card," she added.

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Perhaps most indicative of the wheel’s success at winning hearts and minds: even the person guiding the criminal case against drug court clients – Marion County deputy prosecutor Kevin Shepherd – is on board.

“I think it’s great,” Shepherd told IndyStar at a recent court session.

“Anything we can do to encourage people,” he said, “is a good thing.”

Call IndyStar courts reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email him at jmagdaleno@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: In Indianapolis drug court, humble 'Wheel of Fortune' keeps spirits high