To keep non-violent substance abusers from being hardened by the state
penal system, Elmore County's court system will soon offer offenders a
second chance if their bad habits get them arrested.

In concert with Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb, Circuit Judge
John Bush and District Judge Glenn Goggans, 19th Circuit District
Attorney Randall Houston announced Thursday the establishment of the
Elmore County Drug Court program.

Set to begin Oct. 1, the program will be a second tier of the
circuit's pre-trial diversion program, Houston said, and it will
function in conjunction with the existing system.

The program will be funded by the state's Administrative Office of
Courts, which Bell oversees as chief justice of the supreme court.

"I want the Alabama judicial system to be known for fixing people
instead of filling prisons," Bell said. The drug court, over which
Goggans would preside, would not be an easy way out for offenders,
Houston said. Defendants will be required to take full responsibility
for their behavior before being admitted to the program.

"I think accountability is the key to success and if the defendant
fails to do what is required, then sentence is imposed," he said.
"This ain't no hand-holding program."

Two thirds of all adults arrested test positive for illicit drugs,
according to the DA's office. The recidivism rate "how many offenders
repeat their crimes after release" is nearly 67 percent for drug cases.

"The adult substance-abusing offender has historically been unchanged
by the threat of incarceration alone," Goggans said.

But the 19th Circuit's Elmore County Drug Court, Goggans said, is an
effective and cost-efficient way to make sure drug users commit to a
"rigorous drug treatment program."

The program will coordinate the efforts of the judiciary, prosecution
and defense attorneys, law enforcement and probation officers, mental
health and social services and drug treatment professionals. It aims
to actively intervene and break the cycle of drug abuse, addiction and
crime.

"As an alternative to prison, these offenders will be held accountable
while simultaneously dealing with the deadly disease of addiction."

Drug use and criminal behavior decline while offenders participate in
drug courts, based on national evaluations. And the U.S. Government
Accountability Office found that a lower percentage of drug court
participants were rearrested or reconvicted compared to a sample of
drug offenders who were jailed.

The courts divert substance abusers who are not charged with violent
offenses away from prison or jail and toward treatment Circuit Judge
John Bush said.

"Certainly, this mean additional work and case management for the
courts, but if in doing so, recidivism is reduced and communities are
made safer, then it will have all been worth the effort and manpower,"
he added.