MAUI DRUG COURT IS A BIG SAVER

Regarding "Maui may start state's second drug court" (Advertiser, April 2):
Thank you for the article about the Maui Drug Court opening this summer in
the Second Circuit Court serving tri-island Maui County. It is very
important for us to spread the good word about the benefits of the court.
We can have a significant impact on breaking the cycle of drugs, crime and
prison in our community.

In the Maui Drug Court, nonviolent substance-abusing offenders will receive
the comprehensive substance-abuse treatment, cognitive restructuring, life
skills, educational and vocational training, relapse prevention and
after-care support to become productive, taxpaying members of our
community. The Maui Drug Court will bring sobriety, accountability and
productivity to their lives.

Also as you pointed out, there are significant savings to our taxpayers by
avoiding the high cost of incarcerating these individuals. According to the
Hawaii Department of Public Safety, it currently costs our taxpayers $91
per day to incarcerate an offender. Therefore, if the Maui Drug Court
diverts as few as 60 offenders for just 12 months, our program will save
Hawaii taxpayers about $1.8 million after subtracting the anticipated
$215,000 cost of the program.

There are a few corrections, however, that we would like to make to your
article:

Lillian Koller Schmidt was misidentified: She is the Maui Drug Court
coordinator for the Second Circuit Court.

The article incorrectly said that "the initial funding does not include
money for agencies that would provide treatment to drug court defendants."
Actually, the initial funding that we have requested from the Legislature
($125,000) is for "purchase of services" so we can hire local agencies to
provide treatment to drug court defendants. We are confident that if the
Legislature provides us with this appropriation to start the Maui Drug
Court, together with the $90,000 federal grant, we will be able to serve
about 60 offenders in the first year of our program, thereby yielding the
taxpayer savings mentioned above.

Shackley F. Raffetto
Administrative Judge
Second Circuit Court