NO FUNDING FOR DRUG COURT YET, JUDGE REPORTS

A circuit court judge vowed Monday to establish a drug court in the 8th
District by Jan. 1, despite a lack of funding.

Judge Vernon Cotten told Philadelphia Rotarians that his drug court team
had set a budget at $150,000, but currently had no source for the monies,
noting they were acting on "a leap of faith."

He outlined problems he sees in the way Mississippi punishes drug offenders
and said that the proposed drug court is a viable solution.

"The concept of a drug court is revolutionary, it's about values, it's
about saving fallen people. It will have a positive impact for years to
come," Cotten said.

He used cases he has presided over to illustrate the need for a drug court
in Neshoba, Leake, Newton, and Scott counties, which make up the district.

Cotten said taxpayer monies were being wasted because Mississippi doesn't
treat its nonviolent drug offenders. Instead they are locked up with
violent offenders and are then "contaminated" by other inmates while
learning to become violent criminals themselves.

A drug court is a special court program that requires nonviolent offenders
with drug problems to enter a guilty plea and agree to a four or five year
treatment program in which they must go to therapy and hold a job or do
community service. The program is aimed at lowering recidivism.

Offenders charged with the sale of illicit drugs do not qualify for the
program. An offender must have approval from law enforcement and the
district attorney before qualifying for the program.

Cotten said the failure rate among participants in similar drug courts in
other states is about 20 percent.

A drug court will decrease welfare participation and lower the circuit
court caseload, as well as lower crime rates, saving the taxpayers money,
he said.

Cotten said that the state correctional facility at Parchman houses over
20,000 inmates, half of which are nonviolent drug offenders. He said
taxpayers' money is being wasted because that facility has a budget deficit
of over $70 million, largely due to overcrowding.

It cost about $20,000 a year to house an inmate in a correctional facility
in Mississippi, while a person could go through the drug court program
which would include treatment for about $2,000.

The circuit court judge said taxpayers are given a false sense of security
because they believe that being tough on crime only means locking people
up, but just locking people up doesn't treat the cause of crime at its
root, which he said is drug addiction in most cases.

He described the prison system as a warehouse for nonviolent drug offenders
who resorted to property crime to feed their habit.

He noted that some addicts end up selling drugs to feed their habit, which
creates more crime.

A public meeting on the drug court hosted by the Mississippi Band of
Choctaw Indians in November drew a crowd of about 400, including two
Mississippi Supreme Court justices.