KEEP DRUG COURT GOING

When the Allen County Criminal Justice Task Force released a draft of
its final report last month, its recommended improvements were
sensible, if not exactly revolutionary. No. 1 on its list was: "Pursue
all appropriate alternative sentencing programs to preclude jail
confinement for misdemeanors and non-violent offenders."

In plain English, that means: Don't put people in the county's
overcrowded jail unless it's necessary for the sake of justice or
public safety.

That recommendation should be kept in mind as Allen County Council
members, judges and other officials ponder the future of the county's
three-year-old drug court program, whose future is in jeopardy because
of budget limitations. The program's intent, after all, is to
rehabilitate, not incarcerate, some drug offenders.

Superior Court Judge Kenneth Schiebenberger, the program's chief
advocate, says that, of the 73 graduates to date, just two have been
re-arrested, 34 who had been unemployed have found jobs and 17 have
obtained high school diplomas or GEDs.

If the program is indeed the success Schiebenberger and others insist
it is, surely the money needed for its survival can be found in the
various funds controlled by the courts, prosecutor and council.