From the Archives: Rebuilding, Refining, and Reinventing — How Seattle’s Community and Therapeutic Courts Continue to Evolve
This post is part five of the “From the Archives” blog series, a 12-part series exploring how the Seattle Municipal Court’s (SMC) work, people and spaces have evolved over time. This post looks at how SMC’s community and therapeutic courts have evolved over time, shaped by trial and error, deep collaboration, and a willingness to start over when the work demanded it. Each redesign offered new lessons, helping form the foundation the court continues to build on today. Now, with another full reboot of community court underway—and a name change on the horizon—the next chapter of this evolution is beginning to take shape.
Program Origins: Trying, Learning, and Starting Again
More than a decade ago, the court dismantled a prior model and began anew. “We tried a lot of different ways,” Judge Damon Shadid said. “And we learned quickly that we couldn’t create courts without having prosecution and defense on board.”
Some approaches worked; others did not. But each taught the team—including four SMC judges, the King County Department of Public Defense, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, and court leadership—what was needed. After nearly two years of negotiation, those efforts produced the roadmap that shaped community court 3.0 that served the community until just a few years ago.
Timing was a major issue they sought to fix. Cases often stalled for months before participants could begin meaningful work. The redesigned model emphasized earlier engagement—start giving services on day one—rather than waiting six to eight months for prerequisites. That shift made participation more effective, even as later resource changes required further redesign.
Learning From Mental Health Court’s Legacy
SMC’s Mental Health Court has long influenced the court’s therapeutic work. Judge Willie Gregory noted it was “the first municipal court with a mental health court in the nation,” a foundational structure later mirrored elsewhere.
That legacy continues to drive change. “The major goal of MHC is we do not want to be using the jail as a mental health facility,” Judge Gregory said. Instead, the aim is to “keep community safe and promote mental health recovery and wellbeing.”
Probation Counselor Stephen Connolly, who has worked in Mental Health Court for more than two decades, offered context from the front lines: “The value of probation and mental health courts is really in the relationships… People are good people who are just sick, and the goal is to help them stabilize before things escalate.”
The Shift in Language and Care
Staff have seen major changes in how mental health is discussed. “There’s been a lot of reevaluations of what mental health care looks like… the language has changed,” said Policy & Program Analyst Katie Truelove. “We talk about people who struggle with mental health, rather than say ‘mentally ill.’”
Treatment expectations have also evolved. “It used to be sort of abstinence only,” she said, noting expanded service options, normalization of medication, and more flexible harm reduction strategies.
Misconceptions and What the Public Doesn’t See
Despite years of development, misconceptions persist. “People might get the sense that folks are getting off easy… when in reality the requirements in a therapeutic court are often far greater,” said Therapeutic Courts Coordinator Margaret McCurdy.
Misunderstandings about eligibility are common too. “I still get calls from parents asking if they can get their child into mental health court,” Katie shared. Many people “don’t understand the mechanisms of how that happens,” including jurisdiction limits.
Probation Supervisor Siobhan Haggerty added that many people assume the work is punitive: “The biggest misconception is that everybody goes to jail. What we do here is work with people. We believe in different approaches and meeting people where they are, she said.
Balancing Accountability and Support
Margaret described the balance: “It’s trying to balance the needs of the client with what’s available in the community and how we can help them successfully complete the program.”
“We’re not going to have you go to jail for a night,” she added. “But we are going to have you come up with a plan for making your appointments.”
Evolving Approaches to Treatment
“The court has turned a corner in understanding that medications can work better than traditional treatment,” Judge Shadid said. He noted that integrating medication assisted treatment (MAT) was one of his early goals on the bench. “We are seeking to find solutions instead of reacting to crime.”
Turning a Corner: Supporting People First
For decades, SMC’s judges, probation counselors, and program staff have pushed these courts to evolve — guided by the belief, as Siobhan put it, that “we’re really here to help people leave better than they came.” Stephen agrees: “The value of these courts is in the relationships and the stability they create.”
That conviction has shaped every redesign, every new program, and every attempt to build a more responsive, supportive court system. As SMC prepares for the upcoming reboot of community court, the court remains committed to moving forward with purpose — strengthening approaches that help people stabilize, recover, and thrive.
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