Pubdate: Sun, 14 Dec 2003
Source: Greenwood Commonwealth (MS)
Copyright: 2003 Greenwood Commonwealth
Contact:  http://www.gwcommonwealth.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1541
Author: Matt Volz, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

DRUG COURT TO SEEK FUNDS FROM CORPORATIONS, CHOCTAWS

Judge: 'We Can Operate for About a Year With What We've Got'

JACKSON - Mississippi drug courts, encouraged but largely unfunded by
the state, plan to turn to unlikely sources to find operating money.

Corporations and groups like the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
are being sought out to fund a new drug court for the 8th Circuit
Court District in Leake, Neshoba, Newton and Scott counties. And a
drug court that has seen 248 offenders since 1999 will soon see its
state funding cut 60-65 percent.

"We've got some options. They're not real good," said Judge Keith
Starrett of the 14th Circuit Court District in Lincoln, Pike and
Walthall counties in south Mississippi. "We can operate for about a
year with what we've got."

Judges say drug courts save the state millions of dollars by providing
an alternative to incarcerating nonviolent offenders.

It costs approximately $17,000 a year to house an inmate, but just
$1,500-$2,000 for a person to complete a drug court program, Starrett
said.

Nine drug courts are operating in Mississippi and four are planned,
according to the Administrative Office of Courts. The first opened in
1995 in Ridgeland.

The state Legislature last session passed the Alyce Griffin Clarke
Drug Court Act, which provides for drug court programs statewide
adaptable to chancery, circuit, county, youth, municipal or justice
courts.

But the Legislature did not include any funding in the act, named for
a House member who has long advocated drug courts. With the state in a
budget crunch and several agencies facing multimillion dollar
deficits, court officers with hat in hand aren't optimistic about
their chances of the state supplying their budgets.

That's bad news for the drug courts, which need money for court
officers, drug testing and monitoring participants.

"(The Legislature) is gun-shy of funding any new programs," Starrett
said. But, he said "drug courts make sense in a good or bad economy,
and it shouldn't make any difference."

Starrett's drug court in two weeks will lose a state public safety
planning grant. That grant provided up to 65 percent of the drug
court's $200,000 annual budget, he said.

Other operating drug courts are funded either by the counties they
serve or by grants from the state, the federal government or
foundations, according to the Administrative Office of Courts.

Judge Vernon Cotten plans to start a drug court for Leake, Neshoba,
Newton and Scott counties. He and his drug court coordinator, Marcus
Ellis, have been working on the program more than six months. They've
set a Jan. 1 start date - with or without a way to pay the estimated
$170,000 budget.

"We're going to launch out boldly," Cotten said. "If we don't have any
money, we will still open our doors." Ellis said he's putting together
proposals for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Tyson Foods and
other corporations to find money to get the drug court running.

None of the groups has been asked for money yet, Ellis
said.

To join with the Choctaws, the 8th Circuit will have to resolve
jurisdiction issues, Ellis said. The tribe has its own court system.

Even if they do get startup funding, Ellis said he didn't know if the
8th Circuit drug court will face similar problems to Starrett's court
once it's established.

He said while seeking private donations, he will continue to work on
the Legislature so that when the state's coffers are full, drug courts
will be high on the funding list.

"Every little bit of this is going on faith," Ellis said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake