Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jan 2008
Source: Sierra Vista Herald (AZ)
Copyright: 2008 Sierra Vista Herald
Contact:  http://www.svherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1379
Author: Jonathon Shacat
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

DRUG COURT TO START WORK IN COUNTY LATER THIS MONTH

BISBEE - Adult Drug Court will start operating in  Cochise County on
Jan. 30, and officials hope it will  help drug-abusing probationers
stay clean.

The program involves a combination of intensive  substance abuse
treatment, close probation supervision  and frequent court
appearances. Hearings will be held  in the newly relocated Superior
Court Division 1 in  Sierra Vista.

Judge Charles Irwin stands in his Division 1 Cochise  County Superior
Court room in Sierra Vista Tuesday.  (Mark Levy-Herald/Review)

Judge Charles Irwin, who presides over Division 1, said  violent
offenders and drug dealers will not participate  in the drug court.

"These are drug users who are cycling through the  criminal justice
system and are going to be doing life  on the installment plan
basically if we don't break the  cycle. I think drug court will be a
good opportunity to  break that addiction cycle," he said.

Irwin said the national model for the program has  proven to be a
cost-effective alternative to  traditional prosecutions.

The annual participative cost in the drug court program  in the nation
is about $3,500, he said. In contrast,  putting a drug offender in
prison costs $21,245 per  year, he added, citing a figure from the
Department of  Corrections.

And, he added, a drug user who gets out of prison has a  66 percent
chance of re-offending, while a drug court  graduate only has a 17
percent chance of re-offending,  according to the National Drug Court
Institute.

Adult Drug Court will be a coordinated effort of the  Superior Court,
county attorney, defense bar,  probation, law enforcement and
treatment providers,  said Livingston Sutro, chief adult probation
officer  for Cochise County Superior Court.

Sutro said the program is the product of more than 1  1/2 years of
planning. He said officials wanted to  start the program in Sierra
Vista because of the  methamphetamine problem.

Many meth addicts get probation supervision and  treatment. But, he
added, those programs don't seem to  be working well enough.

"We are hoping that the judicial involvement and the  increased focus
on the individual and the individual's  needs will help turn the tide
around a little bit," he  said.

Hearings for drug court will be closed to the public  for
confidentiality purposes. However, Sutro said,  statistics on the
program's effectiveness will be  maintained and reported periodically.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Steve Heath