TOTAL METH CLEAN-UP IS $700,000

Franklin County Has Spent $700,000 Since 1998 To Clean Up Methamphetamines.

That was the shocking revelation Franklin County Chief Deputy Sheriff Tim
Fuller gave the Franklin County Commission's Law Enforcement Committee last
Thursday night. Fuller noted that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency has
reimbursed the county, "but the county has paid the money out to start with
and no matter what, the taxpayers are picking up the tab." "Our officers
are covered up with paperwork, the district attorney's staff is drowning
from all the work and the judges are beat down with all of the plea
bargaining," Fuller said. The chief deputy explained to the committee that
since Franklin County has such a high number of cases involving
methamphetamines, the sentences issued by the court are not what would be
expected. Fuller explained that people arrested for a first offense of
producing methamphetamines normally receive a sentence of probation. "For a
conviction of second offense, the courts usually give a sentence of
community corrections, while a third offense a lot of times results in a
person being sent to jail for the weekend plus some community corrections,"
Fuller explained. He added by the time a person is arrested a fourth time,
the officers try to get the cases into the federal court system. "Once they
get in the federal court system they receive longer sentences," Fuller
said. "Is there no rehabilitation program for these people using
methamphetamine?" Commissioner Jean Snead asked Fuller. "The only rehab
program I know of is out at Franklin Memorial Gardens or in the back
(meaning in jail)." Fuller stated. Fuller explained that as area law
enforcement have been focusing so much on the meth problem they have seen
the usage of crack cocaine declining, but the "usage of marijuana has
started to rise again." Commissioner Henry Arnold asked if lawmen are
seeing any organized group selling the illegal drugs. Fuller explained that
there are "several Hispanic groups who are controlling methamphetamine
traffic." He stated that there does not seem to be any such groups here,
yet. He added that there have been reports of some gang members from
Nashville, Chattanooga and Huntsville who are regular visitors to the area,
however.