BILL PUSHES DRUG COURTS ON COUNTIES

AUSTIN -- Harris County could lose about $3.5 million in state grants,
including some that go to a narcotics task force, if it fails to set up a
drug court, under a House bill tentatively approved Tuesday.

"It's legislation by sledgehammer," said Chuck Noll, an assistant district
attorney who has been monitoring legislation for the Harris County district
attorney's office.

A bill by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, would give Harris, Bexar, El
Paso, Hidalgo and Tarrant counties until Sept. 1, 2002, to set up a drug
court. If a county fails to set up a drug court, it could lose any state
grants administered by the Criminal Justice Division of Gov. Rick Perry's
office.

Harris County Budget Officer Dick Raycraft said that the grants go to
various county agencies, including the Sheriff's Department, the courts and
the district attorney's office. He said the grants, which totaled about
$3.5 million last year, usually go to pilot criminal justice programs, and
have been used to target domestic violence, juvenile crime and drug offenses.

Thompson said she believes drug courts are a cost-effective alternative to
incarceration and said she does not understand why Harris County has been
reluctant to emulate drug courts operating in Dallas, Jefferson,
Montgomery, Tarrant and Travis counties.

A drug court would handle nonviolent drug- and alcohol-addicted offenders.
Defendants who complete the program of intensive supervision,
rehabilitation and substance-abuse treatment can have their criminal
records cleared of the drug charge.

Without a criminal record, it would be easier for drug addicts to get a job.

"They would reintegrate into the community because they become productive
and contributing members of our society. That's what we're all looking
for," Thompson said.

District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, whose office opposes Thompson's bill,
said he's not convinced drug courts are any more effective than other
programs that can offer nonviolent offenders the chance to stay on
probation and clear their records.

But probation often isn't available for repeat drug offenders, while the
drug court program would be.

The Legislative Budget Board estimates that a drug court would cost Harris
County at least $300,000 a year. Thompson said the judge of the court
probably would be a district court judge who volunteers for the position.

Rosenthal said he's not sure there is a Harris County judge who would be
willing to provide the commitment needed to make the drug court a success.
When members of the district attorney's office visited drug courts around
the country, they found that programs are driven by the personality of the
judge in charge.

In Dallas County, for example, state District Judge John Creuzot, runs drug
court in the evenings after working his regular docket during the day.

"He's evangelical in his commitment to such a program," said Rosenthal.
"Unless one of the district court judges wants to step up and get that much
involved, I don't know that we'll have that success in Houston as they do
in Dallas."

Kent Schaffer, a Houston defense attorney who specializes in
narcotics-related cases, said any judge on the bench is well-qualified and
capable to run a drug court. The drug court could help solve the problem of
escalating drug-related crimes filling court dockets, Schaffer said.

"I don't know if any diversionary courts will work, but if something is not
done, they will build more and more jails and courthouses, which is only a
temporary solution," Schaffer said. "This (drug court) is a solution that
could work."

The drug court program could help the county stop "spinning our wheels" by
prosecuting drug offenders, said Dick DeGuerin, a Houston defense attorney
who handles narcotics cases.

The county's judicial system currently does little to help users kick their
habits or change their drug-use behavior, DeGuerin said. People who are
obviously not major narcotics traffickers but are drug users receive stiff
prison terms when what they really need is effective treatment, he said.
"The quicker the overall system starts trying to prevent usage instead of
throwing people in jail and ruining their lives, the quicker we'll get a
handle on the drug problem," DeGuerin said.

Judge George H. Godwin, presiding judge for state district criminal courts
in Harris County, said the county's current system that allows eligible
defendants to accept probation rather than possible jail time is no less
effective than current drug court programs in other areas.

He said drug courts have about a 60 percent success rate in helping people
avoid further drug use and arrest for drug-related crimes. The county's
deferred adjudication and probation program has a similar success rate, he
said.

If a person successfully completes probation, no convictions are attached
to his or her court records.

"It is not a panacea," Godwin said of the proposed drug court program. But,
he said, it offers another tactic to help people deal with their behavior
and might be worth trying.

Thompson said federal criminal justice grants administered through Perry's
office are available to start up drug courts. The Senate version of the
2002-03 budget includes a rider for $2 million in state money for drug
court grants.

Thompson said it costs $3,500 to keep an offender in drug court programs
for one year. That compares with $11,000 to house someone in a state jail
for one year.

A March 2000 study of the Travis County drug court showed that only 15
percent of drug court graduates were rearrested on any charge within eight
months after being released from court supervision. This compares with 38
percent of regular probationers who were arrested for a subsequent felony.
From 1993 to 2000, the Travis County drug court program saved an estimated
$5.3 million in state jail and prison costs, while the program cost about
$1.8 million.