GRANTS TOTALING $1 MILLION GO TO DRUG COURTS

Two new drug courts in Lancaster County just got a $1 million boost from
the federal government.

The programs, which try to stop the spiral of drug-related crime by helping
addicts quit, began earlier this year. One court deals with adults, and the
other manages juvenile cases.

On Friday, Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey was notified that the U.S.
Justice Department awarded the juvenile program $500,000 and the adult
program $493,453. The state probation office administers the juvenile
court, and Lancaster County administers the adult court.

Lacey, who was instrumental in getting the courts started with the help of
a $30,000 planning grant, was elated.

"It will allow us to expand the program and allow us to get it under way
the way it ought to be got under way," he said.

Before Friday's announcement, federal grants from the Nebraska Crime
Commission - $143,000 for the juvenile program and $92,000 for the adult
program - were covering the costs of the courts.

In June, the adult program began with 10 participants. The juvenile program
started a little earlier with five.

The adult participants met Friday with Lancaster County District Judge
Karen Flowers for the first time.

The drug court is designed for people who have failed probation or continue
to commit drug-motivated crimes. People charged with violent or
drug-distribution crimes aren't eligible.

Participants plead guilty to the felony crime but aren't sentenced. If they
successfully complete the program, they can seek to have the convictions
set aside. The program also requires treatment and weekly status meetings
with a judge.

The grants were among $30.9 million announced Friday by U.S. Attorney
General John Ashcroft.

"Drug courts help communities by managing offenders' behavior and breaking
the cycle of drug addiction and crime," Ashcroft said in a news release.
"Drug court judges are actively involved in holding substance-abusing
offenders accountable while helping to rehabilitate them and reduce
recidivism."

Since 1995, the Justice Department's Drug Courts Program Office has made
about 650 grants totaling more than $125 million. Nearly 700 drug courts
are operating, and more than 430 are planned.

Lacey said Lancaster County asked for a total of $200,000.

"We asked for $100,000 each, and they gave us $1 million," he said.