OTTAWA, DELAWARE COUNTIES FORM DRUG COURT

MIAMI, OK - Repeat drug offenders in Ottawa and Delaware counties will
taken to a new drug court, a move that a judge now supports after
determining it would not lead to pampering offenders. District Judge Barry
Denney said initially he was against the program because he thought it was
soft on crime.

He said he changed his mind after talking with prosecutors and judges
across the state that praised the program and its success rate in cutting
down on repeat arrests.

A recent $100,000 grant from the state Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Department should have the program in place by October, District Attorney
Eddie Wyant said.

The grant will fund a coordinator's job and treatment for 30 people in each
county within his jurisdiction, he said.

Wyant promised during his 2002 campaign he would implement drug court, a
program designed as a last chance for drug offenders before they are sent
to prison. Drug court uses treatment and monitoring of drug offenders as an
alternative to prison time.

After one year, 6.9 percent of drug court graduates are arrested again,
compared with 17.4 percent for those on traditional probation, according to
Oklahoma drug court records.

"Oklahoma taxpayers are not going to fund the amount of money needed to
build prisons to hold all the drug offenders," Denney said. "With drug
court, we are seeing a lot of success."

Denney said the district attorney's office and the public defender would
make the recommendation to the drug court team who will enter the program.

"The offender will undergo very intensive supervision by a team of people,"
Denney said.

Drug court will be held in district court during regular court hours.
Offenders who attend drug court will be subject to daily counseling
sessions and drug tests, and be required to get complete educational or
vocational training and other methods the drug court deems necessary, he said.

Denney said if offenders fail a drug test while in drug court, they are
sent to the county jail, and their participation in the program can be
revoked if the prosecutor sees no progress being made.

There are 36 drug court programs in 27 counties statewide, with plans to
implement eight more by 2004, said Jo Ann Bronstad, state drug court
development coordinator.

Of those programs, 25 are designated for adult offenders, eight are geared
toward juveniles and three focus on the family and drunken driving offenses.

Drug court costs about one-third of what the state pays for incarceration,
Bronstad said.

"Drug court makes people accountable," Bronstad said.

Bronstad said drug arrests have increased 138 percent between 1990 and
2001, with cases involving methamphetamine use in eastern Oklahoma fueling
the rise.

"We are beginning to see kids and pregnant women use meth," Bronstad said.
"The cost is outrageous for a drug-addicted child to grow up."

Children born to drug-addicted mothers face a poor educational start and
poor medical treatment, causing the drug and poverty cycle to repeat
itself, Bronstad said. Oklahoma has three- and four-generation drug
families, she said.