FEE HIKE BENEFITS DRUG COURTS

Assessments Added To Various Fines In Miss. Increase $20 In July

Beginning July 1, special assessments tacked onto fines for several
violations, including speeding, DUI and littering, will increase by $20.

The added fees will be split between the state's drug court program and the
crisis-intervention mental health fund.

Assessments are used to help fund many state programs, ranging from $1 for
a capital defense counsel special fund to a $1.50 state court education
fund and up to $22 for a driver training penalty fund. The assessment also
will be tacked onto game and fish law violations and other misdemeanors.

For example, a first-time speeder, according to state statute, can be fined
between $25 and $100. Tack on the assessment, and the total due runs
between $76 and $151.

"We are preparing to implement the fees as mandated by the state
Legislature," said Hinds County Justice Court Clerk Larry McMillian.

The $20 assessment, approved earlier this year by state lawmakers, is
expected to add $5 million to drug courts, said Kevin Lackey, director of
the administrative office of courts.

"We are hoping that (amount) will fund drug courts in all the circuit
districts across the state and some of the youth courts."

There are 11 drug courts in the state with five more in the planning stage.

The program is an alternative sentencing program that allows first-time
offenders to enter a drug treatment/education program. Successful
completion can have their conviction expunged from their records.

They must also submit to random drug tests, report to the court and get a job.

Hinds County began a drug court in 2000.

Since its creation, 160 people have entered the Hinds County program and 46
have graduated.

With the exception of Hinds County, which receives an annual $150,000
appropriation from the Legislature, the other drug courts are funded by a
mix of state and federal grants, local government funding and private
contributions.

Speaking earlier this week at a drug court graduation in Magnolia, Adams
County Judge John Hudson referred to the assessment, saying, "This will
allow us to develop a system of drug courts to have funding for
approximately 30 courts around the state."

The other half of the assessment is expected to generate $5 million for
seven mental-health crisis centers around the state and a special treatment
facility for juveniles in Harrison County.

The money will help fund 37 percent of the $13.5 million needed to open
half the beds in each facility, said Theresa Smith, director of the
division of planning and public information for the Mississippi Department
of Mental Health.

Each crisis center has 16 beds but only enough funding to open eight beds
at each facility.

There is only one center open in Batesville. Five more will open this fall.
They are in Corinth, Cleveland, Grenada, Laurel and Newton. A seventh
eventually will be built in Brookhaven.

The juvenile treatment center has 48 beds but only enough funding for 24,
Smith said.

"These kids need treatment," she said, noting that the facility will
provide psychotherapy and educational services for them.

"We're very grateful," she said.

Sidebar Fines for violations

Fines for violations Assessments, those fees assigned to actual fines, for
misdemeanor violations goes up $20 on July 1. The rates below represent the
new state assessment to be charged. Traffic violations $51

Implied consent law (DUI) violations $178 Game and fish law violations $64
Litter law violations $46 Other misdemeanors $71.50 Assessments tacked on
for traffic violations broken down by individual fund and amount dedicated
to that fund. Fund Amount State Court Education Fund $1.50 State Prosecutor
Education Fund 1.00 Driver Training Penalty Assessment Fund 7.00 Law
Enforcement Officers Training Fund 5.00 Spinal Cord and Head Injury Trust
Fund (for all moving violations) 4.00 Emergency Medical Services Operating
Fund 10.00 Mississippi Leadership Council on Aging Fund 1.00 Law
Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters Death Benefits Trust Fund 0.50 State
Prosecutor Compensation Fund for the purpose of providing additional
compensation for assistants to district attorneys 1.00 Crisis Intervention
Mental Health Fund *10.00 Drug Court Fund *10.00 Total State Assessment $51.00

* Assessment effective July 1