DRUG COURT STILL IN WORKS

Planning Grant Puts Advocates Step Closer To Court

Proponents of a Central Nebraska drug court are one step closer to
their goal after receiving a planning grant.

The grant will allow members of the Central Nebraska Drug Corps to
travel to three locations next year to study the drug courts
established in those areas, Hall County Sheriff Jerry Watson said.

Drug courts address the problems of drug abusers, especially those who
have a high recidivism rate in the criminal court system. Drug courts
are designed to help nonviolent, drug-abusing offenders stop using
drugs and, in turn, quit committing crimes.

A "good percentage" of the crimes committed today are drug related,
Watson said. People are stealing and forging checks, among other
things, to support their drug habits, he said.

Putting drug-abusing offenders in jail is "just recycling them," Watson
said. They need to be treated for their addictions.

Hall County District Judge Teresa Luther is ready for a new option in
the area.

"Treatment courts are the up-and-coming thing," Luther said. "Meth is a
terrible addiction and its not susceptible to traditional treatments.

"We need to try something different to treat users," she said.

One goal of the drug court would be to stop recidivism in the courts.

"We seem to see the same people," Luther said.

Drug courts offer treatment with consequences, she said. In Douglas
County, where a drug court has been in operation for about three years,
people in the program must meet monthly with drug court officials for
18 months, Watson said.

They must also maintain a job to graduate from the program, get a GED
if they do not have a high school diploma and pass repeated drug tests,
he said.

If a participant tests positive during a drug test, there are
consequences, Watson said.

However, it would not be uncommon for people to test positive the first
few times.

"We have to give them a chance to let the program kick in," Luther
said.

However, a third positive test can land a participant in jail for the
weekend, Watson said. A fourth can get them thrown out of the program
and sent back to criminal court to face charges.

The program would be aimed at adult felonies, but could involve
juvenile offenders facing adult charges, Luther said.

"Our goal is to keep these people out of jail," Watson said. It costs
more to put a drug abuser in jail then it does to treat them, he said.

"We want to make them contributors to society instead of takers," he
said.

It could be three years before Hall County has a drug court in
operation and there are a variety of options to fund the program,
Watson said. Federal grants and charging the participants for the
program are two possibilities.

The drug court would be a joint effort between Hall, Buffalo, Adams and
Phelps counties, Watson said.

There are not a lot of multi-jurisdictional drug courts in the country,
said Joe Jeanette, law enforcement coordinator in the U.S. Attorney's
Office.

Grand Island and Hastings are in two different judicial districts,
Luther said.

The district court judges in the four counties are in favor of this
program and that is why the group will be viewing how other drug courts
function, Jeanette said.

Offenders would need to qualify for the program, he said. County
attorneys would recommend individuals. The drug court would be for
first and second time offenders, not hard-core drug dealers, Watson
said.

"It's a win-win situation for the community," Grand Island police Chief
Kyle Hetrick said.

As part of the planning, the members of the Central Nebraska Drug Core
must examine some legislative issues, Hetrick said. The group wants to
make sure judges have the authority to preside over a drug court.

Members of the drug core include law enforcement agents, district
judges, county attorneys, treatment specialists and attorneys from the
public defender's offices in Hall, Buffalo, Adams and Phelps counties.

"I am in full support of getting this resource to Hall County and
Central Nebraska," Hetrick said. "When these people are not committing
crimes, it makes us happy."