LAFAYETTE BOARD BACKS PROPOSED DRUG COURT

OXFORD - The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors gave their support
Monday to a proposed drug court for the state's Third Judicial
District. The supervisors agreed to front the costs of the drug court
and be reimbursed monthly from state-appropriated funds.

The drug court, which would begin experimentally in Lafayette County
before possibly expanding to Tippah, Union, Benton, Marshall, Calhoun
and Chickasaw counties, would provide selected offenders a chance to
get off drugs and avoid prison.

"It's going to treat an addiction," said Third District Attorney Ben
Creekmore. "The reality is, a lot of these people are at a
crossroads. If they don't go down the right path, they'll end up
costing the taxpayers a whole lot of money."

Not every drug offender will have the opportunity: Arresting agencies
must approve participation, Creekmore said, and each applicant will
be screened by a behaviorist. The program requires at minimum a
three-year commitment to outpatient addiction treatment, whose costs
are to be paid by each participant.

"The drug court is designed to take those people who, with a little
intensive supervision as well as the incentive to avoid criminal
charges, can become drug-free," Creekmore said.

Seventeenth Judicial District Attorney John Chamberlain said the
program headquartered in DeSoto County has succeeded beyond his
expectations.

"A little over a year ago I went out to Texas for the federal
training program, and I was a little skeptical," he said. "I came out
of there so excited about the possibilities.

"We've got letters from some of the folks who say it was the best
thing that ever happened to them," Chamberlain said.

Judge Andy Howorth of the Third District said that any success rate
at all would mean "we're going to be taking addicts and making them
productive, tax-paying citizens."