STATE NEEDS PLAN TO FUND DRUG COURTS

The Magnolia State Needs A Long-Term Strategy To Fund And Implement Drug
Courts.

A program like the one taking shape in Forrest and Perry counties - e.g. a
drug court that will help participants escape the vicious, debilitating
cycle of drug abuse - needs to become a reality in every circuit court
district in Mississippi.

Unfortunately, that isn't likely to happen without state funding.

Consequently, the Mississippi Legislature must develop a strategy designed
to fully fund drug courts in each of Mississippi's 22 circuit court districts.

This will be no easy task, especially in these tough financial times.

However, this is one project lawmakers can no longer afford to ignore.

As the evidence shows, the benefits of drug courts far outweigh the costs.
Study after study reinforces the value of drug courts - in lives redeemed,
money saved and hope restored.

Visionary leaders in the Legislature will grasp this truth and persuade
their colleagues to make a financial commitment to this valuable program.

Earlier this month, Forrest-Perry Circuit Court Judge Bob Helfrich created
a drug court in the 12th Circuit - one of only a handful of drug courts in
the state.

Why was Helfrich able to launch the program? Because he received a $459,000
grant from the Hattiesburg-based Asbury Foundation.

Helfrich was fortunate. A lack of funding has prevented the majority of
Mississippi's circuit court judges from starting their own programs.

And herein lies the flaw in the Legislature's approach to drug courts.

After years of debating the issue, the 2003 Legislature finally passed a
bill creating a statewide drug court system.

However, the legislation was statutory only - it provides no money to
implement drug courts.

To achieve this objective, individual circuit court judges are forced to
raise their own funds.

Clearly, this is a giant obstacle the Legislature needs to surmount.

The Legislature may not be able to fund drug courts in all of the state's
circuit court districts in 2004. However, lawmakers could probably fund one
or two. And if they financed two additional drug courts a year, a majority
of the state's 22 circuit court districts would have drug courts by the end
of the decade.

It took years for Mississippi lawmakers just to approve the concept of drug
courts.

Let's hope they approve funding for the system in a much shorter period of time.