Pubdate: Thu, 16 May 2002
Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright: 2002 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Author: Tonia Holbrook, The Courier-Journal
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

DRUG COURT SOUGHT FOR OLDHAM, HENRY, TRIMBLE

Prosecutor Cites Recent Increase In Related Crimes

Citing an increase in drug-related offenses in Oldham, Henry and Trimble 
counties, Commonwealth's Attorney Kim Snell is pushing to implement a drug 
court for the three-county circuit.

Snell is attending training sessions across the country to learn how such a 
court works and hopes to have one in place by early next year.

Drug court is an alternative to incarceration that attempts to get 
offenders to quit using drugs -- an underlying reason they commit crime -- 
"by using a pretty substantial carrot and a pretty heavy stick," Snell said.

If offenders don't abide by the program's requirements, they are jailed. 
The program's parameters haven't been finalized, but Snell said offenders 
would be required to keep a job or go to school, attend regular counseling 
sessions, undergo periodic and random drug testing, report to a supervisor 
on a regular basis and update a judge regularly on how they're doing.

The court will focus primarily on felony cases, and offenders would be 
enrolled in the circuit's program between one and two years, he said.

Snell said the court is needed because of an increase in drug cases.

Narcotics arrests in Oldham County grew to 259 in 2001, from 154 in 2000, 
according to the latest figures available from the Oldham County police and 
sheriff's departments. Statistics from La Grange police couldn't be 
obtained yesterday.

Police records for Henry and Trimble counties are stored by the state 
police in Frankfort. Drug arrests in those counties for 2000 and 2001 were 
not available. But sheriff's deputies said they have seen an increase in 
the past few years.

Snell attributed the increase in drug-related crime to the population boom 
in those counties and more vigorous law enforcement. Oldham County has 
grown by nearly 39 percent since 1990, according to the 2000 census. Henry 
County grew by about 17 percent and Trimble County by about 33 percent.

Officials don't know yet how much it will cost to establish a drug court in 
the 12th Judicial Circuit, but they will apply for a $500,000 federal grant 
in December, said Ginny Holt, an administrative specialist with the 
Administrative Office of the Courts' division of drug courts. The 
three-year grant would cover expenses such as salaries, office equipment 
and furniture, counseling programs and drug-testing kits.

Drug court is less expensive than incarceration, according to statistics 
from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. The organization 
says it can cost $20,000 to $30,000 annually to house an inmate; drug-court 
programs typically cost between $1,800 and $4,400 annually per offender.

Drug courts began in 1989 in Miami. There are now more than 700 operating 
in all 50 states and other U.S. territories.

The National Association of Drug Court Professionals recently praised 
Jefferson County for its drug-court system, which began in 1993. Of the 850 
people accepted into the program, 288 adults and 10 juveniles have 
graduated, said Bill Patteson, a spokesman for the Jefferson County 
attorney's office. Only about 13 percent of the program's graduates have 
committed new offenses, he said.

The 12th Judicial Circuit has only a handful of officials to preside over 
its counties, so there won't be a prosecutor, judge or other staff to work 
full time on drug-court cases, as in metropolitan areas, Snell said.

The program probably will be implemented in Henry County first because a 
majority of the drug-related cases are arising there, said Donna King, an 
administrative assistant to the Circuit Court's first division. She said 
officials hope to expand the program to the two other counties within six 
months to a year after that.

Snell said by that time he will be able to gauge the program's 
effectiveness and use its success to seek more grants.
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