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The first graduate of Kosciusko County Reentry Court is moving forward with his life, looking through the windshield instead of the rearview mirror.
Brandon Warren, 47, graduated the program Wednesday morning in Superior Court I, supported by his family, friends, the Indiana State Police trooper who arrested him several years ago and representatives of the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office, Community Corrections, Probation Department, Prosecutor’s Office, Fellowship Missions and LITE Recovery.
The Reentry Court started in Kosciusko County this year. It is a program that takes “a defendant who has already been sentenced, already serving time; takes them out of incarceration so they can work the program of intensive support, supervision, lots of individualized treatment and addresses their needs so they can reenter society successfully and not just be left alone to their own devices and, unfortunately, more often than not, return to their own ways of thinking and behaving,” explained Superior Court I Judge Karin A. McGrath after the ceremony.
It is different than the Drug Court as the Drug Court is “more like a diversion program. It takes defendants who are facing criminal cases, sets their case aside while they work a program and then upon successful completion of Drug Court are sentenced far less than they would have been,” she said.
A Story Of Two Men
McGrath began Wednesday’s ceremony by remembering where Warren used to be, at his rock bottom, struggling with a life-destroying addiction. She first called up ISP Trooper Jonathan Price, who arrested Warren.
Price, an 11-year trooper assigned to the ISP All Crimes Policing Team, said he’s dealt with drug crimes for his entire career in some form or another.
On Dec. 2, 2020, Price pulled Warren over on Lake Street. He didn’t take Warren to jail that night because Warren’s daughter was ill.
In early 2021, a warrant was issued for Warren’s arrest.
“I remember that night very well because you were at your brother’s house and we found you inside there. And I always tell that story because that night when I found you in there, I remember you looked at me and said, ‘Really, Pierce?’ I said, ‘It’s Price. Go ahead and stand up,’” Price said.
That night, Price said they were doing a warrant round-up so Warren wasn’t the only one they were looking to arrest.
“We walked out of your brother’s house, you got into the back of someone else’s car and they transported you to the jail, and that was the last time I saw you,” Price said. “As soon as we left that house, we went just down the road, still on Fort Wayne Street, where we found another person we were looking for, also at his brother’s house.”
That person also was taken to jail.
“I remember you and the other guy because of how different your stories have been,” Price told Warren. “You are sitting here, graduating Reentry and starting to get your life back. The other guy - it’s been some years ago - overdosed on fentanyl and was left on the sidewalk dead for about a half hour until somebody found him.”
Price said, “It’s disheartening because I see that side of it way more than I see your side. I can sit here and name several people I’ve dealt with who are now deceased because of drugs. Several more are in prison and will be for many, many years.
“I hope people don’t think that as a police officer we’re heartless and we just don’t care. It can be easy to be jaded from our side because we’re dealing with the same people over and over and over again. But every time I take someone to jail, I always try to say at least a little bit of a prayer that maybe this arrest will be the thing that starts them down the right path,” Price continued, telling Warren it does his heart good to see him sitting there in the courtroom, graduating from Reentry Court.
Words Of Encouragement
Retired Circuit Court Judge Michael W. Reed, who sentenced Warren to prison, couldn’t attend Wednesday’s ceremony, but he sent a letter, which McGrath read.
“You, as the program’s first graduate, are a great example for those who will follow you,” the letter states. “Judge McGrath has made me aware of your many accomplishments and your hard work on your sobriety and your rehabilitation.”
Reed wrote, “I am aware that you used your time in prison in many positive ways, committing yourself to staying away from drugs - available there - and taking advantage of the many programs available within the Department of Correction. I’m also aware that you wasted no time tackling the requirements of Reentry Court, meeting daily and weekly goals you set for yourself as you moved through the program with success.”
Most exciting, Reed said, is the news Warren accepted a position as a peer recovery coach.
“To use your experiences to help others is a powerful thing and I commend you for that,” Reed wrote, in part.
Participants in Reentry Court have a team supporting them as they recover from their addiction, rebuild their lives and reintegrate into the community. A significant part of that team are the case managers. Kosciusko County Probation Department Chief Probation Officer Tammy Johnston served as Warren’s case manager.
“So when Brandon entered the program on Feb. 26, 2025, I think right there in that seat with his family, we watched as he was able to hug them for the first time in four years. Since that day, from that day forward, he began the process of rebuilding his life,” Johnston said.
While the process never went as quickly as Warren thought it should go, within the first couple weeks he got his driver’s license back and got settled into a solid routine and things started going better for him, she said.
“So this year, for the first time in over four years, he will get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with his family,” Johnston said. To Warren, she said, “We’re very proud of you. You worked hard, you earned this. I’m so happy that you’re giving back. Congratulations and don’t be a stranger!”
Sheriff Jim Smith referred to the synergy of what’s happening in Kosciusko County.
“It’s more than one person or organization going in the same direction for something bigger than all of us. Meaning, if you’re willing to put the work in, I think that we’ve showed here in Kosciusko County there is a plethora of people and resources that are going to be there to help. We’re not going to do it for you, and we talk about that a lot with our program in the jail. It’s never a hand out, it’s a hand up. But because of that it’s going to mean so much more to you, like today when you get to celebrate,” he told Warren.
Smith talked about paying it forward, which Warren seems to already be doing, and that’s part of the synergy.
“So that’s what it’s all about, and make no mistake about it: That’s what resonates. It’s not what I say. Yeah, I can help lead in the right direction. It’s coming from you that have been there and done that. That’s what is going to get their heart because they’re seeing where you’ve been and now where you are. They want that recipe and you can give that to them,” Smith stated.
Focused On What Lies Ahead
McGrath told Warren it has been her sincere pleasure in getting to know him during this past year.
“I have marveled at your commitment to rebuilding your life, to becoming the very best version of yourself, reconnecting with your family, those people who mean the world to you,” she said. “I’m thrilled that you have found your new calling in life to help other people. What a powerful thing. You have indeed exemplified precisely what we hope and expect from our participants. You were actively engaged in every step of this program. You were completely honest with yourself and with this team, even when that was hard. You put forth enormous effort to successfully complete all of the requirements of this program.”
Participants in Reentry Court submit an application each time they move up to another phase of the program, as well as for graduation.
“I know, from things you’ve shared over the last year, addiction took a lot from you in a whole lot of ways ... I also know, with your life now, you use this analogy, ‘looking through the windshield, not through the rearview,’ and it’s an exciting place to be. Remembering where you came from, but focused on what lies ahead and these extremely positive steps that you put into place to move forward in such an amazing way,” McGrath told Warren.
She noted his support from his mother, son, daughter, brother, sister-in-law and cousin.
“You are beyond lucky to have these folks in your corner and I know they feel lucky and grateful to have Brandon back to them as well,” McGrath said.
With “great joy,” she told Warren she found he had complied with all the requirements of Reentry Court and declared him to be a graduate of the program. She presented him with a certificate, gift cards and a Challenge graduate coin.
After a thunderous round of applause for him, Warren said, “It starts with gratitude. I’m very blessed, I’m very fortunate to have a family that encourages me and helps support me to have the Reentry Court program and the board and those people to help me along my way. I’m one of the lucky ones to have that support system, to have that structure because a lot of times people think about recovery, they think about removal of things: Doing this, don’t do that. But, really, recovery is recovering your life and that’s hard, especially a lot of times through substitutions of things. You do a lot of damage along your way. So it’s picking up those pieces and rebuilding things that you’ve done along that path.”
Warren said if it weren’t for the Reentry Court, the board, family and friends, “It would be significantly harder and I wouldn’t be where I’m at in my life today without those people supporting me. So I think it’s important to take a minute to understand that there’s so many people out there that don’t have that support, don’t have those people to help them, and they’re trying to rebuild their life. They’re trying to recover. They don’t have enough structure, enough positive people in their life, which is part of the reason I became a peer support professional and took a position with LITE Recovery.”
The journey’s not over, he said, it continues. “This is not an ending, but a continuation of my life and my return, and I’m excited for that. I’m excited to be able to help other people who don’t have the support and are trying to get their life back.”
