COMMITTEE APPROVES EXPANDED DRUG COURT

The Assembly Judiciary Committee voted Monday for a bill that would
make more prison inmates eligible for drug court programs in Las
Vegas and Reno.

The committee voted for Assembly Bill 574 after Clark County District
Judge Jack Lehman said 122 inmates were screened but only 16 were
accepted in the program in Las Vegas.

In the Reno area, only two prisoners have been released to the drug
court, a supervised program of drug testing and rehabilitation
efforts.

Drug courts allow a convict to live and work in the community but
still be considered a prison inmate. The program was authorized in
1999, but the first inmates didn=EDt start until December.

The program allows only those prisoners with one conviction to apply,
but AB574 would expand that to permit those with four convictions to
qualify.

If the bill is approved, Lehman said an additional 42 inmates would
be eligible. He hopes to have the number of people enrolled up to 100
by the end of this year.

Of the 16 enrolled in the program in Clark County, Lehman said only
one has tested 'dirty,' with drugs detected in his urine. That
individual is in the Clark County jail and probably will be sent back
to prison.

Lehman said that in his adult drug court, there have been 1,718
graduates, with only 303 getting into trouble again. That's a 17
percent recidivism rate.

Washoe District Judge Peter Breen said the success rate Reno is 80-85
percent of those who take part in the drug court.

Gov. Kenny Guinn authored the current state program two years ago to
reduce the prison population and in hopes of achieving a lower rate
of those who are released from prison and then re-arrested.