CHANGE AHEAD FOR DRUG CASES

Many Offenders Will Receive Treatment In Lieu Of State Jail

Thousands of low-level drug offenders in Texas will now go to treatment
programs instead of state jails, a fundamental change in prosecution that
was sparked by inequities in sentencing in Harris County.

The Houston Chronicle reported in December that local prosecutors sent
35,000 small-time drug offenders to state jails or prisons in the past five
years, a wildly disproportionate number for the county's population.

During hearings in Austin this spring, state lawmakers grilled a Harris
County prosecutor over the imbalance.

The bill, one of 1,300 that Gov. Rick Perry signed into law after the close
of the legislative session earlier this month, mandates probation and
substance-abuse treatment instead of jail for first-time felons caught with
less than a gram of most drugs. It was sponsored by Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand
Prairie.

The law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, is predicted to lower the state
jail population by 2,500 people and save the state $30 million over the
next five years.

Local officials applauded the law, even as they realized it would leave
them scrambling to establish more treatment facilities. Supporters said it
will keep drug addicts from turning into hardened criminals.

"You can save money, save lives, ensure public safety," said state Sen.
John Whitmire, D-Houston. "It's a great investment and return on the dollar
to keep people from becoming permanent problems for the state of Texas."

Whitmire said he is working with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
to find money to establish a residential substance-abuse treatment facility
in Harris County. The Legislature also has mandated that Harris County open
a drug court.

Federal grant money is available to help local governments provide
treatment programs, and the state will help them track down those funds,
supporters said.

"The governor's criminal justice division anticipates using grant dollars
from the federal level to fund substance-abuse treatment programs around
the state," said Gene Acuna, a spokesman for Perry. "There will be options."

State District Judge Michael T. McSpadden, who advocates making low-level
drug offenses misdemeanors instead of felonies, said the change is "a step
in the right direction."

Under current law, felons sometimes have the option of a six-month jail
sentence or a longer probation term. Frustrated judges say the convicts
often opt for the jail time, viewing it as the easier way out.

McSpadden praised the new law for putting a stop to that, allowing judges
the latitude to give stiff probation sentences that convicts cannot turn
down in favor of jail time.

A Chronicle investigation found that nearly half of the 15,000 inmates in
the state jail system -- lower-security jails established in 1994 to house
nonviolent felons -- were there for drug crimes involving less than 1 gram.

Forty-nine percent of those offenders were from Harris County. The county
accounts for 16 percent of Texas' total population.

The change in law comes as the state is slashing money for drug-treatment
programs in the prison system, a move many called contradictory.

A six-month drug treatment program in the state jails has been eliminated,
and the state's Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Program was reduced from
nine to six months as part of massive state budget cuts.

Larry Todd, prison system spokesman, said the state had no choice but to
reduce programs because of budget constraints, but he acknowledged that
drugs and alcohol are a major problem among inmates.

"The majority of the offenders coming into our system have admitted to some
sort of substance abuse," he said. Many were convicted of crimes directly
involving drugs, he added, and others committed theft or burglary in an
attempt to get money for drugs.

Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Texas, said the cuts are disappointing but will ultimately be offset by the
change in law.

"Treatment works and incarceration doesn't," Harrell said. "It's just
better public policy."