Pubdate: Mon, 22 Oct 2001
Source: Savannah Morning News (GA)
Copyright: 2001 Savannah Morning News
Contact:  http://www.savannahnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/401
Author: Danny DeLoach
Note: DeLoach is Superior Court Administrator
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

Letter To The Editor

CHATHAM COUNTY DRUG COURT

I would like to thank your editorial staff and senior reporter Jan Skutch 
for the excellent and continuing coverage of the development and the 
start-up of the Chatham County Drug Court. It has been a long, slow process.

Many meetings with mental health professionals, law enforcement, other 
judges, court staff, jail personnel and the district attorney's office were 
held. A final public meeting was held Jan. 20, in which then-Chief Justice 
Robert Benham and Judge Amanda Williams addressed a crowd of over 200 people.

However, I would like to set the record straight regarding a portion of 
your Oct. 4 editorial, "New weapon against crime." All aforementioned 
meetings, travel by court staff to other drug court jurisdictions and 
attendance at various training conferences were financed with funds 
provided by a grant from the Council of Superior Court Judges and state 
funds provided by my district office.

Present funding for the operation of the drug court is from a federal grant 
administered by the Governor's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. We 
applied for the smaller grant when we learned that our initial grant 
through the Department of Justice's Office of Drug Court Programs had not 
been funded.

The bottom line is that neither Chatham County nor the City of Savannah has 
contributed to the drug court. In all fairness, though, they have not been 
asked -- yet. We will be requesting funding from both in next year's budget 
request. Grants are great for establishing new worthwhile projects, but 
without local support and funding their futures are somewhat doomed.We do 
not intend to stop there.

If the community does not support a project, it is doomed to failure. At 
some point, the drug court will seek non-profit status. That will allow us 
to accept contributions from the public and private sector.

You also mentioned the problem of the difficulty in getting reliable 
statistics concerning drug courts. One reason, of course, is the relative 
newness of the concept. Despite the newness of the programs, there are some 
statistics and facts available:

* Sixty-eight percent of local probationers test positive for drugs.
* In the Brunswick Drug Court, 2 percent of the participants test positive.
* Nationally, fewer than 5 percent of probationers are in an intensive 
supervised program.
* Drug courts provide the most comprehensive supervision and control of 
drug-using offenders' behavior while on probation and living in our 
communities.
* Regular probationers are drug-tested monthly.
* Drug court participants are randomly tested twice weekly.
* Drug court participants go before a judge once a week.
* A retention rate in drug court treatment programs is approximately 70 
percent.
* Nationally, a year of drug court costs $1,800 to $4,400 per participant. 
That compares to at least $20,000 per year to jail a defendant.

I admit, as your article proclaimed, that drug courts are no silver bullet, 
but how many blanks have we shot at drug abuse in the past? I also admit 
that there are some folks in our society who do not deserve another chance. 
They are the ones we should reserve jail and prison space for.

As of Oct. 2, Chatham County has an official drug court headed by Judge 
James Bass. It was two years in the making and a lot of folks helped make 
it a reality.

Our drug court, in order to be successful, will need community support. The 
folks that succeed will be starting new lives and will need jobs, an 
education and new life skills to become productive, tax-paying citizens.

Danny DeLoach
Superior Court Administrator
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MAP posted-by: Beth