LOCALS EYE DRUG COURT MODEL

Judge Seth Norman of Nashville, Tenn., realized something had to be done in
his city.

It was 1997 and a crack cocaine epidemic had overcrowded the city's jails.
The same drug addicts kept appearing before him in his criminal court.

"I just got tired of seeing the same people come through the door time and
time again who were addicted to drugs," he said Thursday during a visit to
Casper. "At about the same time, I happened to see a television drug court
program that started in Miami, Fla. And I started investigating and found
out we could do the same thing."

Norman learned Nashville was eligible for federal drug court grants, and
soon an intensive outpatient treatment program was made a part of the
Davidson County criminal justice system, he said.

"We did (the outpatient treatment program) for about six months, and after
about six months we realized that the people we were dealing with needed
much more than outpatient care," Norman said. "So I started trying to look
around for some old buildings to start a residential program. And everybody
thought I was crazy, told me I couldn't do it."

But a building was found, and the program has blossomed from five
participants to 100 currently, he said. It was recently recognized by the
White House Office of National Drug Policy.

Taking note of the success seen in Nashville, Casper officials are working
with Norman and other Music City officials to procure federal funding to
start the nation's second residential drug court program to fight Casper's
methamphetamine problem.

Norman and Nashville Drug Court Coordinator Jeri Holloday Bills are in
Casper this week answering questions on how and how well their program works.

On Thursday the two Nashville officials met in Casper with Gov. Dave
Freudenthal. Today they are slated to meet with Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.

Norman pointed to statistics regarding recidivism and economics to
demonstrate the success of Nashville's residential treatment program.

The national average rate of recidivism for criminals incarcerated due to a
drug-related offense is between 60 and 72 percent, he said. The rate of
recidivism for the graduates of Nashville's year-long residential treatment
program is 16 percent, he said.

Economically, the residential treatment program is a success because it
costs Tennessee taxpayers $52 a day to keep one criminal incarcerated. It
costs less than $40 a day to keep a patient in the drug treatment program,
Norman said.

These two statistics have been instrumental in attracting Casper to
Nashville's program, said Circuit Court Judge Mike Huber and City
Councilwoman Renee Burgess.

"If these people are committing crimes related to drugs and alcohol, and
they are addicted, if they are truly an addict, the only thing that is
going to help or change that behavior is to treat that addiction," Huber said.

"If you believe in the drug court program or not ... at least it is going
to save you money," Burgess said. "That's the whole kicker of the whole
thing, I think."

The only criminals eligible for treatment in Nashville's residential
program are those who have been convicted of nonviolent drug-related
felonies like theft, are repeat offenders and are addicted to a substance,
Bills and Norman said.

The criminals must plead guilty to a drug-related charge and can only enter
the program voluntarily, they added.

Once in the program they receive six months of intense treatment while
living at the 100-bed facility, Norman said.

Most of the patients in the program "are on crack cocaine, which is similar
to your meth, and it takes them six months to get their heads clear," he added.

After the first six months, those in the program are allowed to get a job,
he said.

One-third of the money earned at these jobs goes to pay for room and board.
One-third goes to pay for court-related costs like fines. The remainder is
put into an account that can be accessed after the patient graduates the
program, according to Norman.

The patients also work at the residential treatment facility, cooking all
meals, cleaning and doing most of the maintenance work, Norman added.

After spending a full year at the residential facility, the patients are
allowed to move into halfway houses or back into their own residences, the
judge said. But they still must attend weekly meetings and must submit to
drug tests.

"I keep my thumb on them for two or three years," Norman said.

Even though the program has been a success when it comes to recidivism
among those who graduate, about 35 percent of those who enter the program
never get to that point.

Many of these washouts "just say they want to go back to jail," Bills said.

Many others break the program's strict rules, Norman said.

"They are all told if you don't follow the rules, you go to jail," Norman
said. "And the rules are extremely rigid."

"A young man, just the other day, was lying about his attendance at
meetings and he wouldn't quit lying. I couldn't do anything else but send
him to the penitentiary for 16 years," Norman said. "He just wouldn't do
what he was told."