DRUG COURT SOUGHT FOR OLDHAM, HENRY, TRIMBLE

Prosecutor Cites Recent Increase In Related Crimes

Citing an increase in drug-related offenses in Oldham, Henry and Trimble
counties, Commonwealth's Attorney Kim Snell is pushing to implement a drug
court for the three-county circuit.

Snell is attending training sessions across the country to learn how such a
court works and hopes to have one in place by early next year.

Drug court is an alternative to incarceration that attempts to get
offenders to quit using drugs -- an underlying reason they commit crime --
"by using a pretty substantial carrot and a pretty heavy stick," Snell said.

If offenders don't abide by the program's requirements, they are jailed.
The program's parameters haven't been finalized, but Snell said offenders
would be required to keep a job or go to school, attend regular counseling
sessions, undergo periodic and random drug testing, report to a supervisor
on a regular basis and update a judge regularly on how they're doing.

The court will focus primarily on felony cases, and offenders would be
enrolled in the circuit's program between one and two years, he said.

Snell said the court is needed because of an increase in drug cases.

Narcotics arrests in Oldham County grew to 259 in 2001, from 154 in 2000,
according to the latest figures available from the Oldham County police and
sheriff's departments. Statistics from La Grange police couldn't be
obtained yesterday.

Police records for Henry and Trimble counties are stored by the state
police in Frankfort. Drug arrests in those counties for 2000 and 2001 were
not available. But sheriff's deputies said they have seen an increase in
the past few years.

Snell attributed the increase in drug-related crime to the population boom
in those counties and more vigorous law enforcement. Oldham County has
grown by nearly 39 percent since 1990, according to the 2000 census. Henry
County grew by about 17 percent and Trimble County by about 33 percent.

Officials don't know yet how much it will cost to establish a drug court in
the 12th Judicial Circuit, but they will apply for a $500,000 federal grant
in December, said Ginny Holt, an administrative specialist with the
Administrative Office of the Courts' division of drug courts. The
three-year grant would cover expenses such as salaries, office equipment
and furniture, counseling programs and drug-testing kits.

Drug court is less expensive than incarceration, according to statistics
from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. The organization
says it can cost $20,000 to $30,000 annually to house an inmate; drug-court
programs typically cost between $1,800 and $4,400 annually per offender.

Drug courts began in 1989 in Miami. There are now more than 700 operating
in all 50 states and other U.S. territories.

The National Association of Drug Court Professionals recently praised
Jefferson County for its drug-court system, which began in 1993. Of the 850
people accepted into the program, 288 adults and 10 juveniles have
graduated, said Bill Patteson, a spokesman for the Jefferson County
attorney's office. Only about 13 percent of the program's graduates have
committed new offenses, he said.

The 12th Judicial Circuit has only a handful of officials to preside over
its counties, so there won't be a prosecutor, judge or other staff to work
full time on drug-court cases, as in metropolitan areas, Snell said.

The program probably will be implemented in Henry County first because a
majority of the drug-related cases are arising there, said Donna King, an
administrative assistant to the Circuit Court's first division. She said
officials hope to expand the program to the two other counties within six
months to a year after that.

Snell said by that time he will be able to gauge the program's
effectiveness and use its success to seek more grants.