HAUGE SAYS NO TO DRUG SENTENCING ALTERNATIVE

Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge has disclosed that his office will no
longer recommend or support certain alternative drug penalties until the
system is fixed.

"People get cut loose on the day of sentencing, with the promise they will
seek treatment," Hauge said. "But there are no local treatment facilities
that provide what they need."

Hauge released a detailed, six-page memorandum this week stating his office
will no longer recommend the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA) as
part of any felony disposition.

DOSA, which cuts the sentence in half if the inmate agrees to treatment
while incarcerated, is often combined with another program to reduce a
two-year sentence to six months.

In these cases, the inmates aren't in jail long enough to receive the
rehabilitative treatment that qualified them for the sentence reduction in
the first place.

Hauge's memo was distributed to judges, the Kitsap County Bar Association
and the public. At press time he was not sure whether it would post on the
county Web site.

Defense attorneys are free to request Drug Abstinence Orders (DAOs) as
punishment, and judges may still impose them as punishment. However, the
Prosecuting Attorney will neither propose nor support such action.

Hauge claims DAOs are most likely to re-offend by committing more property
and drug crimes, and they are usually placed low on the list of supervision
priorities.

"It's a budget decision they've had to make," Hauge said in the memo. "Our
Community Corrections Officers do an outstanding job and are devoted to
community safety. But their work rules continue to evolve to restrict what
they can do with DAOs in the community. Their hands are being tied tighter
all the time."

Hauge said his action would not affect the disposition of drug court
offenders, a program he feels still works very well. Still, many offenders
who would normally receive DAOs are being sent to Drug Court.

"There are people that should be in the DAO program that are in Drug
Court," he said. "So we are taking a chance here."

Hauge said he does not have a "horror story" about any local DAOs that were
set free without proper rehabilitation to commit a crime. But he called the
DAO system a "sham" and said it undercuts the concept of the punishment
fitting the crime.

In any case, he feels that most drug offenders need treatment in addition
to incarceration.

"The purpose is always to keep people from re-offending," Hauge said. "That
is why treatment is so useful."