LOCAL LEADERS EYE DRUG COURT OPTIONS

WOODSTOCK - In some courthouses, the guy who was busted with cocaine
might see a judge weekly, while the addict who beats his wife is
required to visit his probation officer every six weeks.

But, in drug-court expert Douglas Marlowe's mind, that just doesn't
make sense.

Addicts who are likely to commit new crimes need to be in relatively
expensive and time-consuming programs such as a drug court, Marlowe
said. But addicts whose crimes simply reflect their addiction need to
be coerced into completing treatment, and career criminals who are
more casual drug users need a structured probation, he said.

"If a violent offender is going to be back in the community - and 93
percent of them are - I want them in the most intensive programs we
have," said Marlowe.

He spoke Friday to some McHenry County leaders who ultimately will
have a hand in structuring or running a drug court here. Program
specifics vary, but generally drug courts provide intensive court
supervision and drug treatment in exchange for reduced charges or
punishments.

Marlowe, an attorney and clinical psychologist who is active in the
National Association of Drug Court Professionals, concluded a daylong
series of presentations for about 20 McHenry County Board members and
county probation department leaders, prosecutors, judges, public
defenders and police.

Next month, a smaller group of leaders will attend five days of
training in Nashville and hopefully return with the framework for
starting a drug court in McHenry County by late next year, Court
Administrator Dan Wallis said.

Local leaders are facing a state-mandated deadline after months of
discussions on starting a drug court on the heels of the mental health
court that opened more than two years ago. A law passed last year
required each judicial circuit to run some variation of a drug court
by January, but McHenry County received a two-year extension based on
financial hardship.

Many specialized drug courts reduce their jurisdictions's crime rate
by about 10 percent, Marlowe said. But, he said, drug courts that
adopt proven reward and consequence structures and that target
individuals whose criminality is separate from their addiction can
reduce crime by up to 45 percent.

For example, the 24-year-old who started skipping school when he was
12 only to graduate to alcohol and drug use and burglary when he was
16 needs a separate program than the 45-year-old prostitute who has
been addicted to heroin for 15 years.

If the 24-year-old has a genuine drug addiction, he should go to a
drug court where he initially faces severe punishment for skipping a
court date or counseling session but little punishment for failing a
drug test, Marlowe said. The emphasis on abstaining from drugs should
increase as he progresses through the program, but punishment won't
deter an addict, especially one who has faced criminal sanctions in
the past.

"If you say to an addict, 'You give me one positive urine sample,
you're going to jail,' you've just wasted the cost of the urine
sample," Marlowe said.

But if the 24-year-old uses drugs without being dependent, he needs a
program with harsh punishment for failing drug tests and regular court
dates designed to control his behavior so that he can become a
productive citizen, Marlowe said.

Conversely, the prostitute with a long-term addiction should be sent
to a treatment program and face severe consequences for discontinuing
that treatment, Marlowe said. He said probation linked to treatment
would work best for her because she likely wouldn't commit another
crime if she overcomes her addiction.

But, she could be led astray if she mingles with addicts with harder
underlying criminal and antisocial inclinations in a drug court,
Marlowe cautioned.

"If your risk level [for committing crime] is low, there's only one
way it can go," Marlowe said.

McHenry County Judge Charles Weech said determining which types of
cases and what levels of violent offenders will be allowed into the
drug court will be challenging. State law offers some limitations, but
it also will be a balancing act between community safety and the
offender's rehabilitative needs.

"We're going to get criticized either way," Weech said.

But Weech said he was encouraged by the support that County Board
members, police and prosecutors were showing during the planning process.

"They see the advantage financially of doing this as well," he
said.

[sidebar]

BY THE NUMBERS

Number of people booked into McHenry County jail for drug charges in
2008

25 percent

The increase in drug-related book-ins between 2003 and
2008

11 percent

The increase in McHenry County's estimated population between 2003 and
2008

Number of the 119 offenders who participated McHenry County's drug
probation program since 2004 without being arrested again

Number of criminal cases filed in McHenry County against the remaining
65 offenders who participated in the drug probation program since 2004

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and the McHenry County Drug Court
Taskforce Needs Assessment of 2009