Pubdate: Sat, 01 Nov 2008
Source: Daily Journal, The (IL)
Copyright: 2008 The Daily Journal Publishing Co., L.L.C.
Contact:  http://www.daily-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2805

DRUG OFFENDERS SKIP PAYMENT ON COURT FEES

In Illinois, anyone convicted of a felony or misdemeanor drug offense
is required to pay a fee that helps fund drug rehabilitation programs
statewide, such as the Duane Dean Behavioral Health Center in Kankakee.

But local officials say the large fees, known as drug assessments,
place an impossible burden on convicts already facing incarceration,
and often go unpaid.

Records show that since the Cannabis Control Act was passed in 1992,
drug convicts in Kankakee County have paid $1.4 million in assessments
- -- only 40 percent of the $3.5 million charged. This year, $209,080
has been assessed as of Sept. 30, but only $100,181, or 48 percent,
has been paid.

Assessments range from $3,000 for a Class X felony to $200 for a Class
C misdemeanor.

Complicating things is the fact the circuit clerk's office isn't
notified when convicts who owe assessments are released from prison.
State enforcement is weak, and most of those individuals slip through
the cracks.

A small number of assessments have been waived since 1992: $28,013 or
less than 1 percent. Circuit Clerk Kathy Thomas said one of the
reasons is that convicts must initiate that process, which will pardon
only 20 percent of the assessment.

State drug treatment funds show signs of increasing, although
assessment fees have remained constant. Total revenue from the state
drug treatment fund went up from $3,810,235 in 2005 to $4,435,948 in
2008.
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath