At his worst, Eric "Bodie" Wright drank a 30-pack of beer every day consecutively for six years. He drank all day long.
Wright, 36, of Brownwood, was a heavy drinker since he attended high school in Blanket.
"I was a basketball player and set records in track, but I chose to party," Wright said.
Through the years, drinking cost him a marriage and a job, and when he bottomed out, nothing else mattered but drinking.
Between 2005 and 2007, he received two citations for driving while intoxicated. After the second DWI, he was expecting to go to jail, but he was offered an alternative -- DWI Court in Brown County.
On Friday, Wright was the first graduate of DWI Court, and the event was doubly special because he also was celebrating eight months of sobriety.
"Today is overwhelming, and I am so happy I can move forward and stay sober," Wright said.
The 12-month, three-phase program calls for a team approach for alcohol and drug offenders instead of sending them to jail.
Brown County is one of five counties statewide that has initiated the DWI Court and is the only rural county to adopt the program. The other counties that have DWI courts are Lubbock, Webb (Laredo), Travis (Austin) and McLennan (Waco). Last year, Brown County officials were invited to attend training in Austin offered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The purpose of the court is to help nonviolent offenders by placing them under the supervision of a team made up of court staff, prosecutors, a defense attorney, treatment providers and probation officers to help the person stay clean and sober.
Prosecutors welcome the program designed to give people who have substance abuse problems a chance.
"In the past, all we have seen is people fail," said Elisha Nix, assistant county attorney. "It has been a process to plan this and get it ready, but we are working on it."
There are nine participants in the DWI Court program and room for a total of 30.
During Phase 1, offenders are required to make court appearances up to four times a month, to attend a 12-step program, to take alcohol and drug screens, and abide by a curfew. Treatment in Phase 1 could include medically supervised detoxification, inpatient residential treatment or outpatient treatment.
Requirements ease up during phases II and III, but the offenders are still required to take drug and alcohol tests, show up for court a few times a month, maintain a job, attend 12-step meetings and stay sober.
Any violations could result in increased treatment requirements, community services assignments, jail time or even termination of the program.
Judge Frank Griffin, who presides over the court, said the main thing participants have to do is be honest.
"The sanctions are less if the offenders are honest," Griffin said, adding that national statistics show recidivism is less for communities with DWI courts.
Honesty paid off in Wright's case. After several months in the program, he told his probation officer that he was having trouble staying sober and that outpatient programs were not working for him. So he decided to go to a 30-day inpatient treatment at La Hacienda Treatment Center in Hunt.
"This program gave me the opportunity to do that," Wright said. "God has blessed me with a second chance."
As part of the program, Wright was fitted with an electronic monitoring device and sentenced to a year of probation. The device was removed Friday, and he will complete probation Monday.
Griffin said the program can make a difference.
"It is not always going to work," Griffin said. "But if we can make a difference for some of these people and help them become alcohol-free, the program is worth it."
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