About 4,000 attendees at the conference had access to more than 100 workshops and seminars.
The NADCP conference this year focused on handling cases of addictions to heroin and opiates in prescription and non-prescription medications. Such drugs are the "drug of choice" for the majority of Drug Court participants, rather than methamphetamines as has been the case in recent years.
Nevada was represented by more than 70 individuals, including judges who preside over Specialty Court cases, staff who manage the programs, treatment providers, prosecutors and defense attorneys.
"Specialty Courts have been an incredibly important component of Nevada's justice system," said Justice Gibbons, who chairs Nevada's Specialty Court Funding Committee. "These courts have proven their effectiveness in helping drug- and alcohol-dependent individuals get their lives back on track while easing the burden on the criminal justice system and saving untold taxpayer dollars."
Nevada has utilized the Specialty Court model since the nation's fifth Drug Court was launched in Las Vegas in 1992. Nevada now has 46 Specialty Court programs with access available to everyone in the state's 17 counties. Specialty Courts are established at all three state trial court levels - District, Justice and Municipal Courts.
"While Nevada has a well-established and highly successful Specialty Court network, new approaches to dealing with today's drug and alcohol problems are constantly being developed," Justice Gibbons said. "Those who attended the training conference will be able to help maintain Nevada's position as a national leader in the field."
"I was very proud of Nevada's 20-year history of Specialty Courts, particularly as I learned that some other states and jurisdictions are just now recognizing the value and potential of Drug Courts," Justice Gibbons said.
Training dealt with such issues as improving outcomes in minority communities, the latest science and technology, legal and ethical issues and the business of drug courts.
"Nevada has been using the proven Drug Court model to help individuals who come in contact with the criminal justice system for such issues as drunken driving, mental health, homelessness, prostitution and even veterans matters," said Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas, who will chair the Specialty Court Funding Committee in 2013.
"Specialty Courts have graduated thousands of individuals, who have addressed their problems and returned to being productive citizens rather than going through the prison system at great taxpayer expense," Justice Douglas continued. "Most importantly, hundreds of babies have been born drug free because of these programs."
The judges who attended the NADCP training were Justice Gibbons, District Judges Linda Bell and Kathleen Delaney (Clark County), Alvin Kacin (Elko County), Michael Montero (Humboldt County) and Kim Wanker (Nye County); Justices of the Peace Thomas Armstrong (Carson City), Joe Bonaventure, Ann Zimmerman and Joe Sciscento (Clark County), and Margaret Whittaker (Senior Judge, Nye County); and Municipal Judges Mark Stevens (Henderson), Cedric Kerns (Las Vegas) and Dorothy Nash Holmes (Reno).
Also attending were Court Masters Jane Femiano (Clark County) and Kristin Luis (Carson City).
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