Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jul 2003
Source: Shelby County Reporter ( AL)
Copyright: 2003 Shelby County Reporter
Contact:  http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2949
Author: Ashley Vansant
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

COUNTY'S DRUG COURT HOLDS FIRST GRADUATION

Shelby County's drug court is well worth the costs and effort, said the 
first graduate of the program at a ceremony held in Columbiana recently.

"There's no telling where I'd be without drug court," said 25-year-old Ted 
from Montevallo. "I probably would have gotten strung out again."

Once asked which drugs he used, Ted said the better question was which 
drugs did he not use.

He has now been clean for more than 15 months.

Ted holds a full-time job at a local restaurant and plans to go back to 
school at the University of Montevallo to earn a degree in political 
science - opportunities, he said, that wouldn't be possible without Shelby 
County's drug court.

In return for a guilty plea, Ted avoided possible conviction and jail time 
by entering drug court.

Only nonviolent offenders with charges of possession are currently eligible 
for the program, officials said.

Once admitted, the applicants are subjected to routine drug tests, weekly 
court appearances, random searches and intense treatment and counseling. In 
addition to a $600 supervision fee, they must also pay for court costs.

The program's goals are two-fold, organizers say, to relieve an overcrowded 
prison population and rehabilitate local drug-users.

On July 11, Judge Michael Joiner signed orders dismissing criminal charges 
against Ted and 12 other non-violent drug offenders.

The dismissals were the final stage of the program, which in its first year 
earned the praise of both participants and outsiders.

Shelby County's drug court began in April 2002 with a grant from the County 
Commission.

County Commissioner Dan Acker, who attended the graduation with County 
Manager Alex Dudchock, said he would act as an advocate of the program to 
assure its continued funding.

Last year, the program received a commission grant for $60,000 for the 
first six months and was given an additional $120,000 for 2003.

Judge Joiner said more than 75 people have enrolled in the program since 
its creation.

He said drug court offers a different approach to dealing with offenders 
who kept resurfacing in the courts.

"I kept seeing the same people over and over with the same problems, the 
same drug addictions," Joiner said.

Assistant District Attorney Barry Page said the program addresses those 
problems.

"It gives an opportunity to give more supervision and more treatment than 
we see otherwise."

Page said national statistics indicate drug court programs reduce the 
number of repeat drug offenders.

But proof the program works is also evident at the local level, he said.

"The 13 people we saw last week are just not the same people they were six 
months ago," Page said. "They are different people."

Only time will tell if the recent graduates will stay clean, but Ted said 
he has faith in the program and his fellow participants.

"I know all those people who graduated and I've got confidence in all of 
them," Ted said. "I think they'll all make it."
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