TIOGA COUNTY LIKELY TO BACK DRUG COURT

OWEGO -- Tioga County legislators expect to throw their support behind the
creation of a drug court at their July 9 meeting.

Under the special court program, drug or alcohol addicts charged with
nonviolent crimes would be sentenced to an intensive treatment program
instead of jail.

To enroll in the voluntary program, a defendant must plead guilty to a
criminal charge and sign a contract that specifies the sentence that will
be imposed if he or she does not complete the program.

The number of people who enter the program is expected to grow to the
county's target number of 15 participants within the first three months,
County Judge Vincent Sgueglia said.

Tioga's Criminal Justice Advisory Committee endorsed the creation of the
program after attending an April presentation by members of the Oswego
County Drug Treatment Court about the social and cost benefits of such a
program.

Legislature Chairman Peter Ward, R-7th District, said the county would save
money by creating the program.

Sally J. Oaks, deputy commissioner of fiscal services for Tioga's health
and human services department, was less optimistic. She said the revenue
the program generated would offset its costs. She used 2001 data kept by
the county to try to predict costs and revenues associated with 15 drug
court participants.

Oaks said the county would receive an additional $95,457 in revenue from
state, Medicaid and other insurance providers, if the treatment program
were established.

Creating the drug court also would take some prisoners out of Tioga's jail.
That would leave empty cells that could house prisoners from other areas at
a rate of $75 per day, Oaks said. Housing one out-of-county prisoner for a
year would generate $27,375, she said.

The revenue would help offset the costs of hiring a two-person staff for
Tioga's drug treatment program, Oaks said. A third staff member would be
paid by the state Office of Court Administration.

Tioga would have to employ a certified alcohol and drug social worker and a
probation officer to run the drug treatment program. They would be paid an
annual salary of $47,300 and $37,870 respectively.

Sgueglia said the program would begin in January 2003. The treatment
program means more work for the judge, who plans to hold drug court on
Friday afternoons. But he said he does not mind.

"I am hoping that it will pay off in the long run by cutting down on
recidivism," he said.

He said the treatment program enables the judge, district attorney, defense
lawyer and probation officer to work as a team to develop a treatment
program to help defendants confront their addictions.

Nationwide, more than 70 percent of drug court defendants stay in
treatment, and the recidivism rate for drug court graduates is less than 10
percent, according to the Albany Regional Drug Treatment Court. By
contrast, more than 50 percent of drug addicts prosecuted in traditional
court will be arrested again, according to the Albany drug court.