It was Criminal Law 101, a crash course in the juvenile detention system and a pep rally all in one.

But most of the people in the basement classroom of the Plymouth County Law Enforcement Center on Wednesday night weren't law students, cops or juvenile court officers.

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They were just average citizens planning to serve with the county's new drug court.

"We're here because the traditional responses to addiction are not working," said Judge Jeff Neary, one of the people who's been pushing for drug court since last fall. "We can continue to send them away, we can continue to build prisons, but these people need accountability. The bottom line is they don't think they're accountable to the person sitting next to them at a community event. They don't see themselves as accountable to fellow human beings."

And that, he said, is where these volunteers come in. They volunteered to serve on four-member panels once a month. Juveniles or adults with drug charges -- only those selected as eligible for drug court -- will then have to meet with the panel monthly.

"Your job is to act as judges," Neary said. "You have to hold people accountable that come before you and in some respect past judgement: 'Here's what you're doing well; here's what you need to do better.'"

A juvenile court officer, Andrea Hansohn, will check in with the drug court attendees regularly to make sure they're following through with the promises they agree to with the panel. If they do, praise and even rewards may follow. If they don't, they face the consequences.

"You'll have to put the pressure on, you'll have to turn up the heat," Neary coached the panelists-to-be. "These people need to be micromanaged, at least for a period of time in their life. If you think they're jacking you around -- that's a legal term -- call them on it."

Panelists may have to think outside the box, he said.

"These guys don't think like you and I think," he said. "The drugs make decisions for them."

The panelists will complete another night of training -- next week's topic is addiction, with Jane Sanders of Jackson Recovery speaking. Then they'll have to sit in on a session of the drug court already operating in Woodbury County. But Plymouth County's drug court may be up and running by the end of the year.

"The target time is October, but in reality, it might be November," said Jean Severson, Supervisor of Juvenile Court Services for the Third Judicial District.

Panels will see about 10 individuals at their once-a-month sessions.

While other Iowa counties are gearing up for drug court, Plymouth and Clay Counties will be the first serving juveniles.

"The training tonight will involve explaining what the court system is, how juveniles get into the system, and the expectations we have for the panel volunteers," Severson said. "We're saying, 'We are asking for a year commitment from you; is this what you were thinking it would be?'"

Severson, who's worked 28 years with Juvenile Court Services, vouched for the drug court program.

"A few juveniles I've worked with in Sioux City have gone through the Woodbury County drug court," she said. "I saw the positive change it had in them first hand: being sober, going to AA and NA (Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous), school attendance and grades improve, changing peers."

It doesn't change all at once, she said. And there are relapses. But they want to train the panels to deal with that, too.

And Severson said that, to be successful, drug court needs community support.

"It's a community issue," said Severson. "It helps the community become healthy."

Hansohn agreed that it's a win-win situation..

"Drug court helps the kids stay in the community, addresses their issues and helps them become productive citizens," she said.

One of the driving forces behind the Plymouth County drug court is a spunky woman who works with individuals, adolescents, spouses and families at Plains Area Mental Health.

After she heard the first rumblings of a possible drug court in the county, she spotted Judge Neary in the grocery store.

"I was bold enough to go up to him and say, 'I want to be involved,'" she said. "I'd been involved in drug court in Woodbury County and I knew it was an evidence-based practice."

She's seen it work with kids and adults, so she took the lead in organizing the panels.

"We know drug court works with kids and adults. They're held accountable, they stay in the community, and people truly care about them," she said. "The bottom line is it just works. It truly works."