Pubdate: Sat, 07 Feb 2004
Source: Natchez Democrat, The (MS)
Copyright: 2004 Natchez Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2205
Author: Julie Finley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

PROPOSED DRUG COURT WOULD ROUTE OFFENDERS TO TREATMENT

NATCHEZ -- It may not be long before drug offenders have an alternative to 
jail in Adams County.

Circuit Court Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders and a team of volunteers are 
working to establish a drug court based on the successes of similar courts 
across the country. Even though things are still in the planning stage, 
Sanders said she hopes to have to court running by the end of the month.

In the proposed drug court participants would appear before the judge once 
a week to account for their behavior. They would receive weekly drug tests, 
and if they refused a test or tested positive for drugs they would spend 10 
days in jail. The program would last from one to three years for each 
participant.

Sanders said other judges had prompted her to start a drug court in the 
past, but she was afraid of the time it would take.

"Now I say, 'Why did I wait so long? I should have done it three years 
ago,'" Sanders said. "The more I read about drug court and looked at the 
economic impact of drugs in the community, the more I knew we just had to 
do it."

Seventy percent of criminal cases that appear before a judge have something 
to do with drugs or alcohol, Sanders said.

"If we can save three out of 10 and make them productive citizens we would 
be successful," Sanders said.

Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said he attended a meeting Friday to 
determine the police department's involvement.

"I'm excited about it," he said. "I think it is effective and I'm excited 
to see a new program that is an attempt to change the behavior of drug 
abusers rather than incarceration only."

The team of volunteers Sanders assembled will attend a training session in 
March to qualify them to work with a drug court. The team includes a 
treatment coordinator, a researcher, a defense attorney, a prosecutor, a 
probation officer and several people responsible for gathering statistics 
and working with the community.

At this point there is no funding for the drug court. No one involved will 
be paid for their work. "Right now we have absolutely nothing," Sanders 
said. "We hope to get money through grants, private donations, foundations 
and we will be asking the city and county for funding."

Sanders said she plans to start the court small, with no more than 10 
participants. She already has three people she sentenced to probation in 
mind for the court. Her other goals include getting community groups and 
organizations to adopt a drug court defendant to help hold them accountable 
and find good jobs, she said. "It's a worthy cause," she said. "To see 
someone who has been cleaned up, it's just amazing to see."

As the judge in drug court, Sanders role would be very involved with the 
participants. Prior to each weekly court meeting the drug court team would 
discuss the progress of each defendant. During court each defendant would 
stand before the judge for critique, Sanders said.

"I meet with them, eyeball them and ask them questions. They are being 
monitored 24/7, it's babysitting to a degree."
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