In-Person Drug Testing Continues for Nashvillians on Probation (Updated)

Update (3/31): An order from Judge Lynda Jones says the General Sessions judges have decided to "limit the administration of drug tests to no more than once per week. Any defendant who is indigent may file a motion to waive the cost." 

Original story: While in-person court appearances have been suspended through the end of April due to the coronavirus pandemic, Nashvillians who are on probation are still being forced to leave their homes and travel to the downtown offices of Averhealth for mandatory drug testing.

The realization that people are still being required to show up for in-person drug testing has confounded and concerned attorneys. Probationers have to pay for the drug tests, a particular hardship for people who may be newly unemployed or underemployed. Beyond that, the continued practice threatens to further the spread of COVID-19.

In a letter to presiding General Sessions Judge Lynda Jones, attorney Kevin Teets asks for the drug testing to be suspended. He argues “the community would be best protected by allowing the more than 1,300 individuals on probation to stay home and not increase their chances of contracting and thus spreading the virus.”

He continues: 

As you are aware, Mayor John Cooper has ordered all non-essential services to be closed. I’m unsure why Averhealth is still operating in the first place, especially when one of the objectives of the criminal justice system is to reduce the number of incarcerated individuals in our jails because of COVID-19. If probationers are not being arrested for violating probation and therefore are not having a court date set until after the pandemic is over, what purpose does Averhealth serve at this time other than unnecessarily causing emotional stress for defendants who are struggling financially and can’t afford to pay for a drug test, while requiring members of society with a minor criminal record to take risks that jeopardize both individual and community health. 

Averhealth is a private company that contracts with cities around the country to do drug testing. A staffer at the Nashville office declined to comment and referred the Scene to Averhealth's corporate office. The company sent out

. 

Sources tell the Scene judges have been discussing the issue. But even if Nashville judges were to suspend mandatory drug testing for people on probation, it wouldn’t stop the practice across the state. That would require an order from the state Supreme Court (or voluntary action in each jurisdiction).

In his letter, Teets writes that he will be "filing legal action on Thursday morning seeking to restrain the Davidson County Probation Offices from continuing these practices if they are not suspended before then."