THINK BIG DRUG COURT SAVED

THAT MONEY the drug court in Washington County just got represents an
entirely different way of doing things in our small--and too often
small-thinking--state.

Instead of settling for the barely adequate, somebody finally had the nerve
to Think Big, or at least Bigger. The result? The drug court may be run the
way it should be, instead of just getting by.

The court has been floundering ever since Terry Jones, the prosecutor,
learned he wouldn't get a federal grant to pay for a deputy to handle cases
in the court. The search for other funding took Mary Ann Gunn, the drug
court's judge, to the state office of alcohol and drug abuse, where she
asked for a minimal grant to keep the court going.

Low-balling was the sensible thing to do, considering the way things
usually work, especially in state government. There's never enough money to
go around.

Judge Gunn got a pleasant surprise when her contact in the office asked a
question that's not heard often enough: How much would it cost to run the
drug court right? Suddenly, the discussion went from how to scrape by with
the bare minimum to accomplishing the mission. And the price tag wasn't all
that much different.

Judge Gunn had asked for $36,000 at first. That would be enough for a
full-time prosecutor for six months. It would be enough to keep the court
running while the search for more money continued.

The judge's second request was for $48,500, and that was granted. For a
difference of $12,500, the court will get a prosecutor, a public defender
and a part-time coordinator to keep up with the cases. The money will keep
the court in business until next summer, and there's already talk of
permanent funding in the governor's next budget request.

Here's an example of real economy. The folks at the drug abuse office know
that drug courts work--by keeping tabs on offenders. The court in
Fayetteville is only the second one in Arkansas, and it's only been in
operation since April. It's too early to declare victory in Fayetteville,
but the signs are good. Twenty-two offenders are already signed up and the
program--when it's running right--will be able to handle more than 100.

Word gets around. The drug office wanted to help out because it has watched
the state's other drug court in Pulaski County get results, and would like
to see drug courts set up in all 23 judicial districts in Arkansas. That's
thinking big, too. It's time to respond to non-violent drug crimes with
treatment programs instead of just putting people behind bars, where they
can learn all the wrong ways to rejoin society.

In this case, the difference in scraping by and doing the job right wasn't
that big. But somebody had to say: Let's do it right. What a concept. If it
works with drug courts, why not with our other needs? Needs like public
schools and higher education. No telling what could happen if we all asked
that simple question: What would it cost to do it right?