DRUG COURT CLASS IS ARRESTED

Members Sent To Hampton Jail To Reinforce Rules

HAMPTON -- The entire first class of the Hampton Drug Court program found
themselves behind bars this week on probation violation charges - ranging
from failing drug tests to missing meetings.

The 17 men and women are part of Hampton's first group to go through the
jail alternative drug treatment and support program targeting nonviolent
substance abusers.

Program administrators decided the group should go to jail Wednesday in an
effort to demonstrate that drug court must be taken seriously.

"It's a way to let them know we're not here to screw around," said Patty
Gilbertson, planning director for the Hampton-Newport News Community
Services Board, which oversees the program which got under way in Hampton
last summer.

"We mean what we say - if you don't follow the rules, you'll go to jail."

Drug court, which has operated in Newport News since 1998, targets
nonviolent substance abusers and offers them treatment and support services
as long as they stay clean of drugs and alcohol, maintain a job and attend
daily meetings and workshops.

The members of drug court must appear before a judge and face the
possibility of jail if they repeatedly fail to meet the requirements of the
program. It takes somewhere between 18 and 24 months to complete drug
court. If the individual is successful, they'll face no jail time for their
drug conviction.

Gilbertson said forged notes from support groups and some positive drug
test screenings were the primary reasons the group landed in jail.

"Practically all of them were noncompliant with going to meetings," said
Drug Court Administrator Natale Ward.

Missing a Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous meeting usually
doesn't cause drug court administrators to pursue jail time for offenders.
The dishonesty of forging notes to indicate they went to meetings they
didn't actually attend led to the more serious punishment, Ward said.

Those in the program, however, have made some positive steps, Ward said.
Many are working full-time jobs for the first time in 10 or 20 years and
have reunited with family members who are supporting them.

But despite the successes, Gilbertson said, participants wanted to cut corners.

Changing their lifestyle is just as important as staying clean, Ward said.

Officials tout the success of drug court in steering offenders away from
lives of petty crime and addiction.

In the Newport News Drug Court program, only one of 54 graduates has been
arrested for a felony since completing the program.

The members of Hampton's program will appear before Circuit Court Judge
Christopher Hutton on Monday - the day they're released from jail, Ward said.

Hutton will review the situation and decide what to do with each individual.