by Jamie Belnap

STAFF WRITER

The Tooele County Courthouse bid adieu to 3rd District Court Judge Mark Kouris Tuesday after two years of service in the county’s increasingly busy judicial system. Judge Stephen L. Henriod was appointed to take his place and assumed the case load yesterday.

Henriod, a 14-year veteran, comes to Tooele after eight years at the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City. He said it’s common for judges to rotate every two years within the court’s coverage area — which for the 3rd District incorporates Summit County, Salt Lake County and Tooele County.

“Presiding Judge Robert Hilder has been trying to give new life in some places, and because the Summit County and Tooele County judges are typically so experienced, they often get rotated,” Henriod said, adding that he gladly agreed to take Kouris’ place when he moved on to the West Jordan courthouse.

Henriod, who grew up in Salt Lake County and attended the University of Utah College of Law, was appointed to the court by Gov. Michael Leavitt in 1994. Prior to his appointment, he spent 20 years in private law practice.

“After practicing law for 20 years, I was tired of it,” Henriod joked, adding that he particularly likes the change in roles from being a persuader to being a listener.

Henriod said one of the biggest things he is looking forward to with this transfer is the mix of cases that working as the sole district judge in Tooele provides.

“The case load at the Matheson Courthouse is different because you are one of 20 or more judges,” Henriod said. “There you are either a criminal judge or a civil judge, but in Tooele the judge does everything.”

Henriod has worked in the drug court system for nine years now and is anxious to get involved with the program locally.

“I’m a real advocate of therapeutic justice,” Henriod said. “In Salt Lake City, the use of illegal drugs is behind 85 percent of the crime. If you put drug addicts in jail, when they get out they will still be drug addicts and are likely to re-offend.”

>Graduation from the drug court program — which includes participation in detoxification, inpatient and outpatient treatments, substance abuse groups, drug education classes, urine testing, court attendance and completion of community service hours — typically results in complete dismissal of charges. If, however, an offender does not complete the program for whatever reason they will face sentencing and imprisonment through traditional court procedures.

“No one starts drug court because they want to be drug free,” Henriod said. “They just want to get out of trouble.”

Ultimately, however, many participants have a “wake up” moment during the process and realize that their lives will turn out better if they start adhering to the principles taught there, Henriod said.

In his visits to the Gordon R. Hall Courthouse prior to taking over the reins, Henriod has been very impressed with the way things work and doesn’t envision any changes beyond those that a different personality bring.

“There’s always going to a be a little bit of difference in the way a judge sentences,” Henriod said. “If you set the exact same facts in front of 20 judges the outcome will be different every time.”

In the end, however, Henriod said the No. 1 goal of all judges is the same: to safeguard the community.

“I’m nervous as hell,” Henriod said about his first day of work. “I don’t want to screw anything up that is going well, so I’ve got a lot of homework to do.”

jamieb@tooeletranscript.com