JACKSON COUNTY ENVIES SUCCESS, EYES DRUG COURT

PASCAGOULA - Jackson County supervisors said Monday they want to have
a drug court like the one in George and Greene counties, but they're
not sure how to pay for it.

Circuit Court Judge Kathy Jackson said she would be willing to start
such a specialty court in Jackson County but estimated the cost to be
between $100,000 and $150,000, depending on the fees collected from
participants.

"It works," Jackson told the board at its regular meeting Monday.
"It's the best thing I've see in trying to help people change... .
it's the one thing I do every week that I look forward to because I
can see people's lives change."

Jackson showed the board before and after photographs of a man in
George County, one of 28 who have been participating in the program
there for more than a year. The change in his appearance was radical -
he went from bleached, ragged hair and dead eyes to a
youthful-looking, well-groomed man.

"I promise you that he has changed as much inside as he has outside,"
she said.

Guidelines for the special court were formally set up by legislation
in July. But there are seven such courts already in existence in the
state, including the one Jackson is holding in George and Greene counties.

She holds that court each Thursday with all of the participants, many
of whom have had problems with methamphetamine and prescription drugs.

The participants must have been indicted or arrested on drug charges
other than selling and cannot have a history of violent crime.

Besides Jackson's weekly attention to the program, there are a minimum
of two drug tests a week and a probation officer and program
coordinator for the program.

The bulk of the money is for drug testing, Jackson said. But that's an
integral part of the program of keeping the offenders honest, while
they work to reconstruct their lives.

She said she uses creative ways to help them get back into the
mainstream. She considers all her participants in George and Greene
counties a success as long as they stay in the two-year program. That
program has been in place for about 14 months.

She said she sentenced one former welder to practicing welding for an
entire weekend. He had told her over and over that he would practice
because he failed the welding tests from lack of use of his skills.

After that weekend, he was able to pass a welding test and improve his
income from around $5 an hour to more than $18 an hour, she said, and
better support a family that includes five children.

She has also required the participants to do civic projects on how the
branches of government function and other things. She requires them to
go to the library and read and to do 200 hours of community service.
The reward is that if they complete the program, they come away with a
clean record.

Jackson said that the real reason the program works is that it has
instant consequences. If they fail to complete anything she orders,
she can have them jailed for any number of days. That's because they
have pleaded guilty to their charges before they go to drug court.

"If I started one in Jackson County tomorrow, by the end of the month
I'd have 150," she told supervisors.

The board decided to set up a committee with Jackson and Supervisor
Frank Leach, to come up with the money to fund the program and to set
up a separate fund account for it in accordance with state law.

One suggestion Jackson had for raising money was to find a way the
county can take credit cards for court fees or fines. She said it
would help the county collect more money more easily. The added income
could be earmarked for drug court.