Alternative-Sentencing Program Still Alive In Beaufort

On a recent Monday at the Beaufort County Courthouse, assistant solicitor
Christine Grefe sat in for the judge during county Drug Court, an
alternative-sentencing program for defendants addicted to drugs or alcohol.

The prosecutor listened as two counselors gave progress reports on each
participant.

"Doing well ... really knows how to present himself in interviews ... but
still has to stay in a halfway house" was the update on one man. Another
had "acclimated well" in a halfway house and recently landed a job at a
Hilton Head Island restaurant.

"Be careful, I know about food and beverage," Grefe warned him good-naturedly.

The 10 or so participants were in the beginning stages of a 12- to 18-month
program. The court has survived in Beaufort County after dying out in
neighboring counties of the 14th Judicial Circuit.

But a potentially gaping hole looms in the coming fiscal year budget that
begins July 1, with the city of Beaufort likely to let its commitment to
pay about one-fourth of the court's costs expire.

If the court does not receive that money, its officials may ask other
governments to make up the shortfall because a dip in funding could mean
fewer people admitted. The court is seeking federal nonprofit status for
private fundraising.

Meanwhile, the court generally has received praise from opposite ends of
the criminal justice system.

With 28 current participants, the court provides intensive addiction
treatment and supervision to nonviolent offenders. During the program,
participants must appear in court weekly, attend counseling sessions and
agree to have random drug tests for 12 to 18 months, depending on the
person's situation. They need to hold a steady job or be seriously looking
for one.

The stakes are high. To get into the program, offenders pay $1,500, give up
their right to trial by pleading guilty to charges and waive constitutional
rights to search and seizure. If terminated from the program, they go
straight to sentencing with a guilty plea already on record.

But if they succeed, they could emerge with a clean record and, more
importantly, a new life, said Manning Smith, the court judge's and an
ardent supporter.

"Even those who didn't quit long-term using drugs or alcohol, quit
committing crimes in furtherance of their habit," Smith said. "It instills
conscience, I guess."