Pubdate: Wed, 28 Feb 2001
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR)
Copyright: 2001 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Contact:  121 East Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201
Website: http://www.ardemgaz.com/
Forum: http://www.ardemgaz.com/info/voices.html
Author: Andy Davis, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

WASHINGTON COUNTY: DRUG COURT DOESN'T TRY FOR GRANT OF $500,000

FAYETTEVILLE -- Chancellor Mary Ann Gunn thought Washington County's drug 
court had a good chance this year at obtaining a $500,000 federal grant 
from the U.S. Justice Department.

The court had been passed over for the same grant last year, but now it had 
a year of results behind it. It also had the support of U.S. Rep. Asa 
Hutchinson, R-Ark., who wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General John 
Ashcroft on Friday praising the program.

But Gunn will never know if the application would have been approved. Drug 
court officials missed a Monday deadline to apply for the grant because 
they couldn't find an entity willing to administer the funds. "It's very, 
very disappointing," Gunn said. "This time I was so hopeful." Gunn and 
Larry Counts, director of Springdale-based Decision Point, which handles 
the treatment end of the drug court program, said they learned for the 
first time Friday afternoon that Washington County officials weren't 
willing to administer the grant.

"It was always my understanding that they would disperse the money," Gunn 
said. Counts scrambled to find another grant administrator. State Health 
Department officials held a meeting late Monday to decide whether to 
sponsor the grant but decided they didn't have enough time to consider the 
request, said state Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention team leader Ray 
Stephens. The deadline elapsed at 12 a.m.

County officials said they made it clear at a Feb. 2 meeting with drug 
court officials that the county wouldn't take part in the grant unless drug 
court officials could find a source for the $180,000 in matching funds the 
three-year grant requires.

"I don't know how anyone could have left that meeting thinking the county 
was going to sponsor that grant," said county grants administrator Hattie 
Lee. "We made it very clear: 'No. N-O.' Big time."

Counts said he didn't expect the county to sponsor the grant, only to 
administer the funds. A sponsor of a grant assumes the responsibility for 
supplying matching funds and spending the grant money properly. The 
administrator handles the bookkeeping.

Lee said she didn't realize until Friday that drug court officials still 
wanted the county to administer the funds.

The county applied for the same grant last year on behalf of the drug 
court. At that time, County Judge Jerry Hunton said, Counts assured him the 
drug court would supply the 25 percent match with a $125,000 grant from the 
state Bureau of Drug Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Counts is applying for the 
state grant again this year, but Hunton said Counts couldn't assure him he 
would get it.

Counts said Justice Department officials told him the county could apply 
for the grant now and find a source of funding later. Hunton said he wasn't 
comfortable doing that.

"There was no way I was going to sign a grant request and basically lie 
about having the match money available," Hunton said. Missing the grant 
deadline narrowed the possible sources of funding for the Washington County 
Drug Treatment Court, which held its first hearing in April. The program 
allows drug offenders who aren't dealers to complete nine months of 
treatment in exchange for having their charges dropped. Future funding for 
the drug court is uncertain. The $125,000 state grant, which pays for the 
treatment end of the program, runs out in July. So does another Drug and 
Alcohol Abuse Prevention grant, which pays for a part-time prosecutor, 
public defender and case coordinator.

Drug court officials haven't lined up any other sources of funding, 
although Counts said he also plans to look for other grants. The state 
Department of Community Punishment has offered to establish a drug court in 
Washington County similar to the one it operates in Pulaski County. Counts 
is against that proposal because he thinks the drug court should remain 
under local control.

Gunn said she and other Washington County judicial officials have yet to 
formally decide on the offer. Meanwhile, Gunn said she's already started 
working on applying for the Justice Department grant next year.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth