COUNTY MAY LAUNCH NEW DRUG COURT DOCKET TO REDUCE REPEAT OFFENDERS

About 20 law enforcement officials, judges and lawyers attended a
dinner meeting Wednesday to discuss the development of a new drug
court program in Maury County.

The program, intended to reduce the number of repeat drug offenders
who are putting an increasing strain on the county's court system, is
hoped to be up in running in the county by the first of the year, Drug
Court Coordinator Debbie Hillin said.

"I went to Judge Stella Hargrove and asked her about starting a new
drug court," Hillin said. "She said, 'some of what we're doing isn't
working, so let's try something else.'"

The drug court program is not a separate court but rather a court
calendar or docket intended to use the criminal justice system to
reduce recurrence among nonviolent substance abusing offenders instead
of simply sentencing them.

The length of the program will be 6-24 months and a participant can
enter through the recommendation of the judge, district attorney or by
the client's attorney. The DA and the attorney for the defendant will
negotiate to determine whether a person is eligible.

"I'm convinced that what we've been doing in these cases isn't
working," Hargrove said. "You hear about the success of these courts
in larger cities across the country. Drug courts in towns the size of
Maury County are just as successful."

In order for participants to graduate from the program, they must
undergo mandatory, frequent testing for controlled substances, attend
substance abuse treatment, be placed on a type of supervised probation
with the possibility of prosecution in they fail to adhere to the
rules and cooperate with a case worker throughout the four program
phases.

"The concept of drug court is therapeutic justice rather than punitive
justice," Public Defender Claudia Jackson said. "The only thing we've
been able to do in the past is incarcerate them. Now we have a program
with teeth in it," she said.

Hillin said the drug court is funded by a federal grant from the U.S.
Department of Justice. She said she hopes to begin the interviewing
process next week for eligible participants in Maury County.

According to statistics provided by The National Association of Drug
Court Professionals, more than 300,000 people have entered drug court
programs since their creation.

Drug offenders accounted for 72 percent of the overall increase in the
federal prison population between 1990 and 1996, the statistics said.

More than 70 percent of all drug-using offenders who have entered drug
court programs have either completed or are currently participating in
a drug court program.

"The longer we can keep them involved in treatment, the better chance
we have of rehabilitating the individual," Hillin said. "Treatment
does work."