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THE HENRICO EXPERIENCE: PROSECUTOR ACCEPTS DRUG COURT AFTER INITIAL SKEPTICISM

Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Wade Kizer understands how fellow prosecutor Jim Plowman feels about the new Loudoun drug court.  He used to feel the same way when the program began in his Richmond-area jurisdiction.

But after seeing the results of the program Kizer is now a big supporter.

"Before I knew anything about drug courts I was skeptical and thought this was going to be an avenue for people who were charged with drug offenses to get out and try and avoid a conviction," he said.

As the Henrico Adult Drug Court continued, Kizer said he began to hear success stories and see results that started to change his mind.  He said each program is unique and that Henrico tweaked its program so that only certain people can qualify for the drug court--convicted drug addicts who have committed non violent crimes to support their habit.  It's a format that Loudoun County has mirrored in its drug court.  Kizer said the program is available to convicted probation violators who do not have pending cases.  The person has already pleaded guilty to the charge, so Kizer said if the person fails, they are sent to jail or prison to finish out the term.

"They are not avoiding a conviction because they are already convicted," he said.  "Some [addicts] turn it down because, I think frankly, for a lot of them they know that drug courts are actually going to be tougher than spending 60 to 90 days in jail, which are the typical sentences.  If they fail to complete, then there are getting the sentence."

Kizer said once the program's eligibility criteria changed, he started to see more benefits with drug courts.  Secondly, he said he learned that drug courts are far more rigorous for participants who would normally be in jail or serving probation.  Participants are forced to have a job and if they don't they must perform community service; they are drug tested a few times a week and not once a month as it is typical; they are forced to pay some of the drug courts costs; and therapy sessions are far more frequent for non-participants.  The only drawback he sees is that the program is manpower intensive.

"It took awhile to convert me but I think it is a very useful program," he said.  "If you look at the amount of a drain a drug addict is on the community ...  for every one we get off drugs and make a productive citizen out of, that's much less of a drain on a community."