SPEEDY PROSECUTION OF DRUG DEALER SHOWS COURT SYSTEM IS IMPROVING

THUMBS UP: To the Forrest County judicial system, which is prosecuting
criminals in a much more timely manner than it did a year ago.

On Tuesday, a jury in Forrest County Circuit Court convicted Kado James
Jackson as a drug dealer - less than four months after Jackson's arrest on
cocaine possession.

"This is the quickest turn-around time between arrest and trial that I can
remember," said Capt. Glen Moore, director of the Forrest-Perry Metro
Narcotics Task Force. "It looks like the system is working."

A large share of the credit for the new and improved judicial/legal system
goes to Forrest-Perry Circuit Court Judge Bob Helfrich, who took office in
December 2002, and Forrest-Perry District Attorney Jon Mark Weathers, who
assumed his post in July.