DRUG COURT SEEKS ADDITIONAL FUNDING

Program Hopes to Double Capacity

MIAMI, Okla. - Oklahoma's Drug Court program has proved successful
statewide, but it is limited by the number of "slots" the state can finance
in each judicial district.

The program in the 13th Judicial District, which comprises Ottawa and
Delaware counties, is no exception. It was initiated last October by
District Attorney Eddie Wyant.

"We were funded initially for 30 slots in the two counties," Wyant said
this week. "Right now, we have 10 people in the Delaware County program and
20 in Ottawa. They are showing progress in getting away from the drug
lifestyle and continuing abuse."

The program is open to nonviolent drug offenders, regardless of their past
record. It provides a deferred-sentencing program coupled with treatment,
counseling and intensive supervision for a period of six months to two years.

After applying for the program for the first time last year, the 13th
Judicial District received a grant of $27,500 from the state Department of
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to pay a program administrator
for one year and help purchase drug-testing supplies.

Michael Huggens is the 13th Judicial District coordinator. The program is
administered by a Drug Court Assessment Team.

Those involved are a judge, the prosecutor, and representatives of the
sheriff's office in each county, the district's drug task force, the state
Indigent Defense System, the Northeast Oklahoma Council on Alcoholism, and
the Oklahoma Department of Probation and Parole. The team considers
individual applicants for admission into the program.

People who are selected are given a specific course of treatment,
counseling and supervision aimed at keeping them drug-free and working
toward a productive lifestyle and role in society. Those who test positive
for drug use are subject to immediate sanctions, including county jail time.

Offenders who are unable to meet the program's requirements are sentenced
to prison for their original drug crimes.

Wyant said one important benefit of the program is that it "breaks up the
generational cycle of drug abuse in families."

Kenney Wright, a local defense attorney contracting with the Oklahoma
Indigent Defense System, said the program could easily help 100 people in
Ottawa County alone, if funding were available.

Special Judge Bill Culver, who handles cases in the drug-court sessions in
the two counties, said he is hopeful the funding will be expanded for
fiscal 2004-05.

"I can tell this is benefiting not only the people involved, but the
state's economic problems as well," Culver said. "I hope the Legislature
sees it that way and increases the money."

Wyant said the program "makes common fiscal sense" for the state.

"It costs, in rough ballpark figures, about $25,000 a year to keep someone
in prison," he said. "It costs about $2,500 a year to put them through the
drug-court program and achieve some measure of rehabilitation."

Jo Ann Bronstad, state coordinator of the program, has said the statistics
since it began in 1998 in some counties show an overall success ratio.

Of drug-court "graduates," only 6.9 percent are arrested for new drug
crimes in the first year, compared with 17.4 percent of offenders in the
traditional probation and parole program.

"We're asking the state to give us 60 slots in the new fiscal year budget,"
Wyant said. "We're just waiting now for the Legislature to approve a new
budget."