OVERHAUL SHOULDN'T DIMINISH DRUG COURT'S SUCCESS

Hillsborough County's drug court has been successful in helping determined
addicts kick their addiction and stay out of jail .

That's why the idea of streamlining the process leaves some people worried.
Why mess with success?

But the decision to create a drug court that will concentrate on cases
involving defendants who want help is not unreasonable, especially in light
of the tremendous loads the judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers have
been carrying.

Drug court here, as in more than 600 other locations across the country,
began with the goal of treating addicts rather than locking them up.

Before drug courts were instituted, offenders moved through the system in a
predictable pattern: arrest, prosecution, conviction, incarceration,
release. And then it would happen all over again.

But drug court offers those who face felony drug possession charges the
chance to get their cases dismissed if they successfully complete an
intensive diversion program.

The program is for users, not sellers. And if a participant doesn't make
it, he suffers penalties, usually involving time behind bars.

It is not an easy path. Defendants end up under court supervision longer
than they would if they did not volunteer for the program. But most end up
rid of a drug problem and free of a criminal record. The recidivism rate is
remarkably low.

But over the years, dockets grew longer. Drug court expanded from one to
two courts, and it wasn't unusual for court to run late into the night. And
late nights, as the Tribune's Joshua B. Good reports, "wore on defense
attorneys and prosecutors, especially when they had worked out a deal to
give a defendant jail time instead of months of intensive drug treatment."

So starting Monday, drug court will be changing. Instead of two courts,
there will again be one. Hillsborough Circuit Judge Jack Espinosa Jr. will
take over the job of accepting guilty pleas and authorizing case plans for
defendants who want treatment.

The remaining cases, involving those who don't want treatment or who
maintain their innocence, will be spread among other judges in the felony
division. Those judges will have the authority to order defendants to seek
treatment if they are convicted or agree to a plea. They won't, however, be
keeping tabs on whether the defendants follow through.

Almost everyone agrees that this change is necessary. Judge Kevin Carey,
who ran one of the drug courts, had 1,575 cases pending. "We can't run a
drug court with these numbers," he told Good.

Others, like former Judge Don Evans, who ran the court for 13 years, worry
it won't be as effective. About as many people forced into treatment were
successful in overcoming their problems as those who requested it, he said.

Still, Espinosa will be keeping tabs on those people moving through his
court, and it's important to remember that involuntary treatment will
remain an option in sentencing.

The changes should make the admirable but overwhelmed drug court manageable
again.