Harlan Kirgan
Eunice City Court Judge Terry Hoychick pointed to drugs as the underlying cause of crime.
But he also notes many people do not know there is another way to live other than what they are doing.
“I saw people that come into city court, and I still see every day, they simply don’t know there is a different way to live life then what they have been given,” he said at the Eunice Rotary Club on Wednesday.
Hoychick, who took office in January 2015, says it was God telling him to seek election to the office.
“He told me to run because there were things that needed to be done,” he said.
“Do we have a drug problem in Eunice? Absolutely. I would say 90 percent of the people that come in on Mondays — we will have anywhere from 40 to 75 people on Monday — have a drug problem,” he said.
Drugs are not the only source of public trouble, he said.
“We have a lot of drunks in Eunice,” he said.
Hoychick said he recently had six prisoners on a televison monitor for probation hearings.
“Unfortunately, all six of them tested positive for drugs while I had them out on probation where they were supposed to be doing all the little things they were supposed to do. I tell everyone of them when I sentenced them ... if you do drugs while you are out and I find out I’m going to revoke you in a heart beat.”
Adding to the problem is there is a lack of rehabilitation opportunities, he said.
Hoychick says he sends addicts to facilities in Shilow, Texas, Bastrop and Logansport in Louisiana.
The judge says he prefers long term treatment facilities.
“God changes people and their lives can be changed when you give them the right direction,” he said.
When someone is spotted who wants help, the court system will work with them, he said.
In Eunice, Hoychick offers offenders an opportunity to attend church services instead of doing community work. He added that 90 percent of the offenders opt for community service work.
Another aspect to his court tenure is discovering juveniles who are in trouble rarely have two parents active in their lives.