OFFICIALS LEARN HOW DRUG COURTS LOWER COSTS, RATE OF RECIDIVISM

More than 190 judges and court officials gathered Wednesday in
Marietta to learn about a low-cost program that is reducing the
stream of repeat drug offenders that clog court calendars in Georgia.

Drug treatment courts, first developed in Miami in response to the
1980s crack cocaine epidemic, add rehabilitation to traditional
punishment of offenders. But they are far from "Get out of jail free
cards," said Cobb County Superior Court Judge George Kreeger, who
heads Georgia's drug court committee.

"It's the hardest work most of our participants have ever done," said
Kreeger, who also runs Cobb's drug treatment court.

Drug offenders must complete a rigorous program of addiction
treatment, vocational counseling and random drug testing to avoid
jail time. The alternative approach provides a balance between
punishment and rehabilitation that is winning support from
prosecutors and defense lawyers.

Georgia's first drug court was established in Bibb County in 1994 by
Superior Court Judge Tommy Day Wilcox. It is still in operation and
there are now 33 counties with treatment courts, according to
Georgia's Administrative Office of the Courts.

Most metro Atlanta counties have adopted drug treatment courts in the
last few years. Those without the programs include Cherokee,
Paulding, Clayton and Henry counties, said Jane Martin of the
Judicial Council of Georgia, which is sponsoring the two-day Drug and
DUI Court Conference.

The current rise in the use of methamphetamine across Georgia is
cited by court and prison officials as a reason for the growth of
alternatives to the traditional revolving-door legal system,
chockablock with repeat offenders.

West Huddleston, who directs the National Drug Court Institute, said
Wednesday that drug treatment court programs are receiving positive
reviews nationwide.

"The problem is that what we have traditionally done doesn't work,"
Huddleston said. "The drug court seeks to solve the problem of
recidivism by breaking the cycle of abuse, crime, prison and return
to addiction by restoring the participants to health."

A new study of Georgia's drug treatment courts shows that only 17
percent of graduates are later convicted of another crime, said Debra
Nesbit, who monitors treatment court programs for the Judicial
Council of Georgia. That compares to a national recidivism rate of 48
percent among similar offenders who go through traditional courts, Nesbit said.

The courts are effective and a less-expensive alternative to jailing
offenders, said Carroll County Assistant District Attorney Josh Vandall.

"We give them chances," Vandall said Wednesday. "We want them to
succeed, but we also will put them in jail if they continue to use."

There's an economic benefit to the approach, according to proponents.
Instead of sitting idle in jail, treatment court participants are
required to pay a hefty percentage of the cost of operating treatment
courts, Kreeger said.

"We collect about $2,400 a year [from each offender], that's almost
all the cost of the treatment component," said Kreeger.

From the first treatment court in Miami the concept spread slowly
until 2000, when 665 were in operation nationwide. That year they
received a boost when the American Bar Association approved
guidelines for treatment courts and they were endorsed by national
associations of chief justices and court administrators. The number
of drug treatment courts had grown to more than 1,600 in 2004,
according to the National Drug Court Institute.

The adult treatment court concept has been adopted by juvenile courts
in six Georgia counties. All but one have been in operation since
2000. The three metro Atlanta juvenile treatment courts are in
DeKalb, Cobb and Newton counties.

Another reason some attending the conference are actively considering
adding treatment courts is that there is more state money available
for start-up costs.

Nearly $1 million was appropriated beginning July 1 to fund start-up
costs of courts in Georgia after legislation was passed in 2004
authorizing and setting standards for drug treatment court programs.
That more than doubled the $450,000 allocated last year, according to
the National Drug Court Institute.

"For courts in rural areas where there are fewer dollars available to
start treatment courts, state and federal funding is essential,"
Huddleston said. "But the competition is so great for federal funding
that having state and local money available is important."