FINDING FUNDS FOR DRUG COURT

Conviction Fees: Hike Would Pay For Expanded Program

JOLIET - Will County Drug Court has successfully graduated many
participants back into society since its inception in 1999.

The problem in recent years has been funding.

For the first three years, a federal grant funded the program, which
allows convicted drug addicts and alcohol abusers the option of
treatment instead of jail. But the grant ran out in 2001, and the
program has been limping along since with smaller grants and local
contributions.

Now there's a new funding possibility. Two new state laws allow
counties to hike fees on several types of convictions by $5 or $10.
Counties can opt to enact one fee or both.

Saving Money

Julie McCabe-Sterr, the county's drug court coordinator, gave a
lengthy presentation to the county board's judicial committee
Tuesday explaining how drug court actually saves the county money by
reducing the jail population and cutting recidivism, which leads
to a safer community.

The program also helps people, many of them professionals or
tradespeople, kick their addictions so they can reclaim their jobs
and families, she said.

McCabe-Sterr estimated the county has saved $3.4 million since the
drug court started and it could save another $14 million over the
next five years if an expanded program financed by the fee hike is approved.

As part of the program expansion, McCabe-Sterr said the county
should create its own eight-to 10-bed recovery house. McCabe-Sterr
and Chief Judge Stephen White have already scouted locations for
such a house in Joliet, Crest Hill and unincorporated Joliet
Township, she said.

Passing On The Cost

The county board would have to vote to increase the fees.
McCabe-Sterr recommended the full $15 increase. That would generate
an estimated $644,000 in income for the program.

The fees would apply to all felony, misdemeanor and aggravated
traffic convictions; ordinance violations; and traffic convictions
not paid by mail.

Minority Leader Margie Woods, D-Joliet, who sits on the judicial
committee, asked for more time to study the many charts and graphs
McCabe-Sterr presented at the meeting.

Committee Chairwoman Ann Dralle, R-Lemont, said the proposal also
would have to pass through the county board's finance and executive
committees for review.

Participants in the drug court program have to agree to visit
probation officers periodically, make weekly or biweekly court
appearances and submit to random drug tests. Participants also must
stay employed or in school.

"We're not easy on these people," McCabe-Sterr said.