CREATION OF DRUG COURT ON TRACK

CLINTON - Under study for years, a proposed Anderson County Drug Court
has cleared a key U.S. Justice Department hurdle, and the program
could go into effect late this year, officials said Wednesday.

The Justice Department has approved the local application for training
of drug court team members and the establishment of such a court in
Anderson County, said Kelly Dagenhart, president of the Anderson
County chapter of Remove Intoxicated Drivers.

Training of Judge James B. "Buddy" Scott, who would oversee the
court, and program coordinator Jackie Holloway, a former county
commissioner, has already begun, Dagenhart said.

Such a court would be similar to the Knox County Drug Court, which has
been operating successfully for several years, Dagenhart said.

Drug courts feature a strict program of intensive treatment, drug
testing and supervision, all with the promise of jail time should
offenders not follow guidelines.

Dagenhart said the normal judicial procedure of jailing repeat drug
and alcohol offenders has "proven expensive yet ineffective in
changing the behaviors that lead to arrest."

Having a drug court featuring intensive rehabilitation as an option to
jail "actually saves the county money. That's the point I've been
trying to make," Dagenhart said.

He said there are now more than 1,500 drug courts in the U.S., and
they've sharply reduced repeat offenses for drug and alcohol crimes.

"The recidivism rate is cut in half in the worst jurisdiction I have
seen, and in the best was lowered by more than 90 percent," Dagenhart
said.

"It's a complicated system, but it does work. I'm sure of that," he said.

Most of the funding to establish a drug court in Anderson County would
come from federal grants, Dagenhart said.

Members of a drug court team, including Scott, Holloway, District
Attorney General James Ramsey, Public Defender Thomas Marshall and
others will be receiving specialized drug court training, Dagenhart
said.

Scott said he hopes plans for the drug court "will generate interest
in the community and address this acute problem that is really growing
at alarming rates."

Scott estimated that about "80 percent of crime is generated by those
people that have an addiction to drugs."

Ramsey has given his "support in principle" to the proposal, but has
sounded some cautionary notes.

He said in a memo on the subject that another assistant district
attorney would be needed to cover all the sessions a drug court would
set. "We make no promises regarding our ability to allocate our
resources," Ramsey said in the memo.