Pubdate: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 Source: Joplin Globe, The (MO) Copyright: 2004 The Joplin Globe Contact: http://www.joplinglobe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/859 Author: Gary Garton, Globe Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) DRUG COURT SEEKS ADDITIONAL FUNDING Program Hopes to Double Capacity MIAMI, Okla. - Oklahoma's Drug Court program has proved successful statewide, but it is limited by the number of "slots" the state can finance in each judicial district. The program in the 13th Judicial District, which comprises Ottawa and Delaware counties, is no exception. It was initiated last October by District Attorney Eddie Wyant. "We were funded initially for 30 slots in the two counties," Wyant said this week. "Right now, we have 10 people in the Delaware County program and 20 in Ottawa. They are showing progress in getting away from the drug lifestyle and continuing abuse." The program is open to nonviolent drug offenders, regardless of their past record. It provides a deferred-sentencing program coupled with treatment, counseling and intensive supervision for a period of six months to two years. After applying for the program for the first time last year, the 13th Judicial District received a grant of $27,500 from the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to pay a program administrator for one year and help purchase drug-testing supplies. Michael Huggens is the 13th Judicial District coordinator. The program is administered by a Drug Court Assessment Team. Those involved are a judge, the prosecutor, and representatives of the sheriff's office in each county, the district's drug task force, the state Indigent Defense System, the Northeast Oklahoma Council on Alcoholism, and the Oklahoma Department of Probation and Parole. The team considers individual applicants for admission into the program. People who are selected are given a specific course of treatment, counseling and supervision aimed at keeping them drug-free and working toward a productive lifestyle and role in society. Those who test positive for drug use are subject to immediate sanctions, including county jail time. Offenders who are unable to meet the program's requirements are sentenced to prison for their original drug crimes. Wyant said one important benefit of the program is that it "breaks up the generational cycle of drug abuse in families." Kenney Wright, a local defense attorney contracting with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, said the program could easily help 100 people in Ottawa County alone, if funding were available. Special Judge Bill Culver, who handles cases in the drug-court sessions in the two counties, said he is hopeful the funding will be expanded for fiscal 2004-05. "I can tell this is benefiting not only the people involved, but the state's economic problems as well," Culver said. "I hope the Legislature sees it that way and increases the money." Wyant said the program "makes common fiscal sense" for the state. "It costs, in rough ballpark figures, about $25,000 a year to keep someone in prison," he said. "It costs about $2,500 a year to put them through the drug-court program and achieve some measure of rehabilitation." Jo Ann Bronstad, state coordinator of the program, has said the statistics since it began in 1998 in some counties show an overall success ratio. Of drug-court "graduates," only 6.9 percent are arrested for new drug crimes in the first year, compared with 17.4 percent of offenders in the traditional probation and parole program. "We're asking the state to give us 60 slots in the new fiscal year budget," Wyant said. "We're just waiting now for the Legislature to approve a new budget." - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager