LOCAL DRUG COURT EFFORT STILL ALIVE

Henderson County officials and members of the local judicial system agree
that a drug court or a similar program here would be beneficial, and County
Judge-executive Sandy Watkins is among those pushing for more movement on
that front.

One group is preparing to seek funding for an adult drug court that would
provide an alternative to incarceration for some nonviolent offenders. But
others say that with or without state or federal funding, it's time to
"jump start" a drug court or treatment program in Henderson County.

In a meeting last Tuesday, Judge Watkins said that Henderson Fiscal Court
is keenly interested in getting a program started as soon as possible.

"We're dealing with a major, major issue in Henderson County as far as
dollars and the cost of incarceration," Watkins told the assembly, which
consisted mainly of members of the adult drug court and juvenile drug court
teams. Some local attorneys and county magistrates were also present.

"We (fiscal court) want to do the right thing. We're here tonight to find
out what we need to do to get this thing jump started," he said.

Watkins said the fiscal court would be willing to "put some money into it
to get drug court moving forward."

To get some direction, Watkins invited Earl Loney, director of the
Lighthouse Recovery Program in Owensboro and Roger Stacy with Community
Solutions, also in Owensboro, to speak about how they started a recovery
program without state or federal funding.

"There are ways to combat addiction in the community with very little
money," Loney said.

They key, he said, is "rousing the community" and finding volunteers who
are dedicated to changing lives.

A recovering alcoholic for more than 20 years, Loney said the program in
Owensboro started about three years ago with him running a 12-step program
with a few people facing misdemeanor alcohol/drug charges.

"It grew," he said. From there, Loney was invited to a meeting with the
organizers of Lighthouse Recovery and he became the interim director.

Now Lighthouse Recovery has three houses for people going through the
one-year program, he said.

"We are a recovery program, not a treatment facility," he said. "We help
simply within our own personal experience."

People coming into the program are usually facing misdemeanor charges. "If
they're willing to go to Lighthouse, the judge probates the person's time
on the condition that he/she completes the one-year program," Loney said.
"If they don't comply, we report them back to the courts and the court
deals with them."

Those signing up for the Lighthouse program are assessed by a therapist to
see if this recovery plan is best suited for them.

The houses occupied by Lighthouse participants are basically
self-supporting, Loney said, because many of the residents are paying rent.

Churches have worked the non-profit organization into their budgets, some
clubs hold fund-raisers for them and there are individual donors which keep
the agency up and running, he said.

But the bottom line, he said, is "get some people involved who have the
desire to help and it can come together."

Watkins said the next step for Henderson County will be to sit down with
members of the community and decide where to go from here.

"Those guys (Loney and Stacy) showed us that we can put enough pieces
together that can pull some of these (people) out of jail," he said.

"I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes but we need to figure out some way
to reduce the numbers going into the jail," Watkins said. "I think drug
court can do that."

Getting federal funds to establish a drug court in Henderson may prove
difficult.

The team trying to set up a juvenile drug court here was told in October
that its funding had been denied.

Henderson District Judge Rob Wiederstein, a member of the juvenile drug
court team, said the lack of funding is discouraging.

"It's frustrating for me if (the government) isn't going to fund drug
court," he said. "It's disheartening for people like me who want to see
this approach."

Meanwhile, Henderson Circuit Judge Stephen Hayden said members of the adult
drug court team received notice last week that it was time to apply for
federal funding. The deadline is Feb. 27.

"In Henderson, we see treatment as our weakest link," Hayden said. "The
components of drug court are the court system, the drug court team" and a
treatment program, he said. "The components are there except for treatment."

Hayden said he would get behind a recovery program whether it's one similar
to Lighthouse or an adult drug court.

"What we know is that what we currently have in place -- putting them in
jail -- isn't working," he said.

"These people re-offend over and over again," Hayden said. "If they are put
into treatment, the recidivism decreases dramatically.