For more than a year, Wednesdays in Licking County Municipal Court have been H.O.M.E. Court days.
The Housing Opportunities through Municipal Engagement court diversion program connects homeless people charged with nonviolent misdemeanor crimes to emergency housing, mental health services doctors and more.
Judge Teresa Liston oversees the program. The mood in her court is largely joyful. Laughter punctuates the proceedings. Participants — they aren't called defendants here — talk comfortably with one another and service providers.
On Aug. 12, nearly every seat on the court's seven benches was filled and a dog was even in attendance. Ladybug the pitbull came to support her owner, who is currently in in-patient recovery in Pike County as part of the program.
“She’s being boarded through Puddin’s Pals right now until Cheyenne is ready for her to come back, right?” Newark Law Director Tricia Moore said.
The two had a happy reunion outside before court came to order, then Ladybug stuck around for more than an hour of proceedings.
When the day’s first case began, the energy in the room briefly shifted.
Liston asked Preston Rogers, who was charged with three misdemeanors, why he would rather participate in H.O.M.E. Court instead of traditional court.
Rogers said he’s 54 years old and homeless.
"I’m tired of being on the streets," Rogers said, his voice breaking. "I don't need that. I'm a better man than that."
Rogers lowered his head. Defense attorney Kaitlin O'Hara put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"We all have the moment when we're ready."- Judge Teresa Liston
Michael Kincaid, a program participant sitting in the front row, raised his hand. Liston gave him permission to speak.
“I've known Preston for a long time. He's my brother," Kincaid said.
A program graduate echoed Kincaid's statement.
“Will you stand by Preston if he comes into H.O.M.E. Court?” Liston asked.
"Absolutely," Kincaid said.
To enter the program, Rogers pleaded guilty to illegal camping, trespassing and littering. He was set to be released from jail directly to a local shelter, though the H.O.M.E. Court team was still nailing down which one could take him.
Liston ordered Rogers not to consume alcohol or non-prescribed drugs. He would soon undergo a mental health and substance-use assessment. And the team would help him track down his birth certificate and Social Security card.
"All your friends are so excited about this right now. I can see it in their eyes," Liston told Rogers.
"They wanted me to do this a long time ago and I wasn't ready," Rogers said.
"And you weren't ready. Okay, well, we all have the moment when we're ready, sir," Liston said.
"We are not a housing court. We do not find people houses. We help people build their homes."- Judge Teresa Liston
Like most participants in H.O.M.E. Court, Rogers was arrested for illegal camping. In 2024 and 2025, Newark and Heath enacted so-called camping bans, which make sleeping on benches or in doorways a misdemeanor. The cities put the laws on the books despite pushback at the time from advocates concerned about criminalizing homelessness.
Not long after those camping bans went into effect, Licking County Municipal Court created H.O.M.E. Court.
The court has had its share of success stories, including Kincaid. On that Wednesday in August, Liston presented Kincaid with a graduation certificate. Kincaid is now living in his own apartment and has done all that the court has asked.
Court staff celebrated Kincaid's graduation with cupcakes for everyone and a cheesecake that Kincaid playfully refused to share.
The court staff and social services workers who helped Kincaid on his journey also shared their praise.
When it was her turn to speak, Moore inexplicably stepped into the courtroom carrying a cup of urine in gloved hands, sparking another round of raucous laughter.
"Hey, wait a minute, I did that yesterday!" Kincaid joked.
Moore delivered her remarks with the apparent drug test still in her hand.
"If we can change one life, we can affect and change the world. And that's how we feel. And Michael is a prime example of that," Moore said. "I mean, you saw him sitting in here, encouraging everybody else to get better. So he has affected this entire community. And we're better because of it."
Kincaid is the program’s 10th graduate.
But H.O.M.E. Court is not always sunshine and rainbows.
Ulysses Dansby swore after the prosecutor recommended he be "unsuccessfully terminated" from the program after repeatedly failing to comply with the conditions of his bond. Liston wasn't amused.
"What was that I just heard?" She asked, her otherwise calm and upbeat demeanor briefly faltering.
"You don’t give nobody no hope," Dansby said as he shuffled out of the courtroom.
The prosecutor said that Dansby ran from the people trying to take him to an in-patient treatment facility.
Of the roughly 35 people who have started the H.O.M.E. Court program, nine have flunked out for not following court orders. That might involve skipping treatment or resuming use of substances.
"We are going to make this program the best possible program we can make it."- Newark Law Director Tricia Moore
Still, Liston and Moore said the program has exceeded their expectations.
"I look at success differently," Moore said. "The nine who we have terminated, I just don't feel were ready, but we have had them connected with resources.”
Liston added that while 35 or so may not seem like a lot of people, that's a sizeable portion of the county's estimated homeless population. Last winter's point-in-time count found 176 people were homeless in Licking County.
Liston also said that in Licking County, law enforcement, the court and social services work together wonderfully to keep the program on track.
"We seem to have gotten the golden people in the room," Liston said.
And the H.O.M.E. Court team is determined. There's little that Liston, Moore and Assistant Law Director Melanie Timmerman won't do for the community they serve.
"I mean that's why it works is everybody's like, 'we'll do what we have to even if I have put on gloves and collect urine,'" Moore said.
That cup of urine — which was a drug test — determined that a participant who was in jail could be released to a shelter that day.
When the shelter told Moore that was all they needed to get the ball rolling, she took care of it right then and there. Liston said something like that would usually involve coordination between multiple agencies and could take a week or more to get done.
The court program is, in many ways, nimble.
The team added pet boarding after they realized that many people didn't want to enter the program if it meant giving up an animal.
The court also began to put more focus on helping participants manage their physical health. Liston said when it began, participants came in with undiagnosed cancer, severe dental problems and other serious health problems.
Soon, the court will have a specialized trauma group.
"We are constantly re-evaluating, we're rebuilding, we're re-directing," Moore said. "We are going to make this program the best possible program we can make it."
Liston said one thing hasn’t changed.
“We are not a housing court. We do not find people houses. We help people build their homes," she said.
