Pubdate: Mon, 19 Mar 2007
Source: Lincoln Journal Star (NE)
Copyright: 2007 Lincoln Journal Star
Contact:  http://www.journalstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/561
Author: Cara Pesek
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

FOUR COUNTIES POOLING RESOURCES TO FORM DRUG COURT

WILBER -- In her time as a district judge, Vicky Johnson has realized 
there are two types of drug users.

There are the kind who have extensive criminal histories, who sell 
drugs, who are violent, who have problems that extend far beyond drug use.

Then there are those who have perhaps lost their jobs as a result of 
their drug use, who have stolen and lied to feed their addictions, 
but who are, above all, addicts. Johnson sends the first kind of drug 
users  to prison.

She's been less certain of what do with the second kind. For a first 
offense, she often puts them on probation. But probation for addicts 
often doesn't do much in the way of rehabilitation.

After a warning or two, she sentences them to prison, too.

Come summer, Johnson likely will have another option.

Four Southeast Nebraska counties -- Saline, Gage, Jefferson and 
Fillmore -- are working to form a cooperative drug court.

Modeled after similar courts for drug users in Lancaster, Douglas and 
other Nebraska counties, the court would aim to rehabilitate drug 
users facing felony charges, Johnson said.

The 18-month program would combine frequent drug testing -- up to 
four times a week -- with counseling, outpatient drug treatment, 
rewards for good behavior and punishments for bad behavior.

After 18 months, participants would be expected to have jobs or be 
taking classes,  she said. They'd be expected to pay their court fees 
on time, show up for meetings and court appearances and, ultimately, 
to be sober.

If they could do all that, Johnson said, the felony charges that 
landed them in drug court in the first place would be dropped.

Johnson and fellow 1st District Judge Paul Korlslund, who's based in 
Beatrice, would take turns presiding over the court, which would 
convene once a week. The Gage County attorney's office, which has 
three full-time attorneys, would handle the prosecution, Johnson 
said. County attorneys from the other three counties would decide who 
was eligible for the program.

"It's designed for people we're mad at, not afraid of," Johnson said.

The idea for the program was planted perhaps a year ago, Johnson 
said, after the Saline County Board of Commissioners saw a 
presentation about the Lancaster County Drug Court.

They approached Johnson about starting something similar in  Saline 
County, and she looked around to see if anyone else was interested.

They were.

"There's a significant methamphetamine problem in all of Southeast 
Nebraska," said Gage County Attorney Randall Ritnour.

In 2006, he said, Gage County saw 13 felony drug cases. Less than 
three months into 2007, there have been another 13 felony cases, he said.

And Ritnour sees drugs at work in other types of crime, too.

"You look at violence, you look at burglaries, you look at thefts, 
and drugs fuel a lot of that," he said.

Ritnour, who served as the Johnson County attorney before being 
elected to the Gage County post in November, said he's seen the same 
people wind up in court on drug charges time after time.

Christina Lyons, a probation officer, had noticed that, too.

"We were seeing the same people over and over and over again, and we 
wanted to break that chain."

Lyons, who also has helped to form the drug court, applied for a 
federal grant for $215,000, which would be used to fund the first two 
years of the program. Among other things, the money would be used to 
hire a coordinator and possibly one other employee.

After those initial two years, Lyons said, the four counties would 
absorb the cost of the drug court, providing it's effective.

She's hopeful it will be.

Unlike some rural counties, Saline, Gage, Jefferson and Fillmore 
counties all offer mental health services and drug and alcohol 
treatment. The services are available through Blue Valley Mental 
Health, which provides mental health care in 15 Southeast Nebraska counties.

Blue Valley Executive Director Jon Day said treatment could include 
intensive outpatient therapy -- 10 hours a week of addiction 
counseling and small group meetings -- as well as anger management 
training, marriage counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

One of the main components of successful treatment, he said, would be 
making services available in the communities where they're needed.

He hopes drug court does that.

"This is the last stop," he said. "It's an alternative to incarceration."

By the numbers:

Numbers Of Felony Drug Cases By County In 06

Saline: 22

Gage: 13

Jefferson: 6

Fillmore: 3

Estimated cost of first two years of drug court program: $215,000

Sources: Gage County Attorney's Office; Christina Lyons
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman