OFFICIALS ARE CALLING SEVEN-MONTH-OLD JERSEY COUNTY DRUG COURT A SUCCESS

Program Has Five Participants, No Dropouts "It Seems to Be Working"

Jersey County officials are cautiously delighted over the early
successes of the county's new drug court.

Now in its seventh month, the program has enrolled five participants
and there haven't been any dropouts.

"We're all feeling very pleased," said Jersey County Circuit Judge
Thomas Russell, who instituted the program last winter.

Drug court allows drug offenders a way to keep a conviction off the
books and avoid imprisonment - in return for a commitment to turn
around their lives. The concept originated in Florida in 1989 and has
been emulated in jurisdictions across the country. Madison County,
Jersey County's neighbor to the south, has had a drug court since 1996.

Russell said people who have a history of violence and those who
display little or no interest in rehabilitation are not candidates for
drug court.

Those who are accepted must toe a rigorous line for 15 months. They
are subjected to unannounced visits by a probation officer, required
to appear in court before Russell once a week, submit to drug tests as
frequently as three times a week and spend up to six hours a week with
a counselor. They get help with mental health, family and job issues.
When successful, drug courts save tax dollars that would have been
spent on imprisonment, reduce crime and help people become productive
citizens who pay taxes, support their families and contribute to their
communities.

Drug Court Counselor Mike Jurkanin has high hopes for the first drug
court participants. He said there have been dramatic lifestyle changes
and much-improved family relationships.

The first participant has now been clean and sober for six months.
Jurkanin said the man owns his own business and has been a responsible
citizen.

"He has a much better relationship with his daughter," Jurkanin said.
"She's going to college, and he's proud of her. She's proud of him,
too."

One of the other participants, who's in his 20s, has been clean for
more than 140 days. "He says it's the longest he has been clean since
he was 12," Jurkanin said.

Although Jurkanin wants to see each participant successfully complete
the program, he's a probation officer who is sworn to enforce the law.
He can't ignore violations that, if serious enough, can send a
participant to prison.

If the program succeeds, he said, it will be due in large part to the
close attention paid to each participant by Russell and himself.

"The credit goes to Judge Russell," Jurkanin said. "It was his vision,
his idea. It seems to be working."

Jurkanin said the program probably will never include more than nine
or 10 offenders at a given time. With a larger program, participants
would not get needed individual attention, he said.

"We're looking for quality, not quantity," Jurkanin said. "I'm
available to these people 24 hours a day. I don't want to lose any of
them."