CABELL COUNTY'S ADULT DRUG COURT TO START WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS

HUNTINGTON -- Cabell County will start its adult drug court within
weeks, making it one five new drug courts set to open this year in
West Virginia, according to the county's Chief Probation Officer
Johnny Winkler.

The program is funded through state Supreme Court of
Appeals.

Cabell County's program will target felony offenders whose nonviolent
crimes are committed to fuel a drug addiction. For some candidates,
the opportunity will be the only alternative to prison. Winkler said
repeated arrests and past problems will rule them ineligible for other
programs. He hopes drug court provides a structured lifestyle and an
opportunity for changed lives.

"We are going to try to fill their time with things other than drugs
and show them that life can continue very well if you're not on
drugs," Winkler said. "It's going to take a period of time initially
to break that cycle. The people who are severely addicted, (drugs are)
the first thing they think about, if anything goes wrong in their life."

Each offender will enter a guilty plea before Cabell Circuit Judge Dan
O'Hanlon, who will postpone sentencing to provide the offender time to
finish the program. Winkler said successful completion means the
person could be set free and discharged from probation.

The phased program begins with weekly appearances before Family Court
Judge Patricia Keller, who will oversee the court's day-to-day
operations. Each week also will include multiple meetings with
substance abuse counselors and probation officers. The intense
treatment and supervision eventually will subside and the program's
aim is for the offender to gain meaningful employment. Winkler
estimates completion will take offenders a minimum of 18 months.

County prosecutors will approve each participant. They will assist in
operating the program, along with the county's Day Report Center, the
judges and probation officers.

The drug court's probation officer will be sworn in Jan. 20. Training
will take six weeks. Winkler hopes the program begins within eight
weeks of the swearing in.

Winkler and Keller hope the adult program mimics success at the
juvenile level. The county's juvenile drug court reopened in August
2007.

"Very few of the graduates have come back into the system," Winkler
said. "The juvenile drug court system tries to catch the kids before
they get fully ingrained in this and try to break that pattern ... The
adult drug court system is going to be getting the people,
unfortunately, that have had years and years and years of substance
abuse."

The state's other new programs will be in Greenbrier, Pocahontas,
Kanawha, Monongalia and Preston counties.

State officials have said such courts could help West Virginia's
inmate population problem. West Virginia has more than 1,000 inmates
being held in the state's 10 regional jails rather than in a state
prison. The situation is expected to get worse because the state's
inmate population is projected to surpass 7,000 by 2012.

State statistics show that 80 percent of inmates have a drug or
alcohol problem, but only 20 percent were charged with a drug-related
crime.

West Virginia's first drug court opened in the Northern Panhandle in
2005. According to the state Supreme Court, drug courts also have been
created to serve Boone, Lincoln, Logan, Mercer, Wirt and Wood
counties. Drug courts for juveniles have been established in Cabell
and Wayne counties.