DRUG COURT: WEEKENDS IN JAIL

A Second Chance For Addicts

MAGNOLIA - Circuit Judge Keith Starrett leaned back in his big leather
chair last week and peered over papers to chastise a woman who had tested
positive for drugs.

Helen McDonald, 35, of Summit apologized to Starrett, then turned to the
nearly 40 people who filled about half of the Pike County courtroom and
explained that she "messed up" and wasn't honest with herself or the court.

A sheriff's deputy escorted the tearful McDonald out the courtroom and
secured her in a holding cell, where she waited for an hour before being
taken to the county jail to serve a 10-day sentence.

McDonald, an OxyContin addict, is one of about 150 participants in the
state's first drug court program. The program gives first-time drug
offenders like McDonald a second chance at life.

Drug court isn't perfect, Starrett said. But some of the Harrison County
judges believe drug court is part of the solution to the state's substance
abuse problem and recently received funding to start a similar program on
the Coast.

Makesha Hatcher of Brookhaven also believes in the program. The 22-year-old
college student lost a full scholarship to Hinds Community College because
she was addicted to OxyContin.

Hatcher received a round of applause last week when she told Starrett that
she had been accepted to an engineering work-study program. She has
struggled in the drug court program and recently tested positive for drugs
and just served the first of five weekends in the county jail.

Starrett and others, including state Supreme Court Chief Justice Edwin
Pittman, say the four-phase program is successful because it's helping
people become drug-free and keeping them out of state prison.

Drug court, Starrett said, is not a "warm and fuzzy" program. While
offenders are given the opportunity to participate in the program instead
of going to prison, they are subjected to random drug testing at least
twice a week, must receive inpatient and outpatient treatment and are
required to pay their fines.

Starrett put McDonald in the county jail last week because she allowed the
court to test her urine knowing it would be positive for drugs.

"Honesty is a big part of this program," said Starrett.

Starrett first heard about drug courts five years ago at a judicial
conference. While walking on a treadmill, Starrett said he was talking to a
Louisiana judge about the growing drug problems in his court district,
which serves Lincoln, Pike and Walthall counties.

"Most of the drug addicts want to stop," Starrett said. "The felony arrest
is a defining moment in their life."

Participants who graduate from the program, which can take four years to
complete, will not have a felony conviction.

In Starrett's district, five of the 202 people who have been enrolled in
the program since it began in 1999 have graduated. About 100 people are in
the second phase of the program and meet with the judge once a week.

Court records show 33 are in the third phase and report once a month, while
17 people are in the fourth phase and no longer report to the judge.

Most of the 40 people who attended last week's hearing in Pike County are
in the second phase. And most of them, including Jeffrey Davis of Crystal
Springs, tested negative for drugs.

Davis, 33, said he had used drugs all his adult life until a few months ago
when he was arrested for prescription forgery. He received 22 days of
inpatient care and 22 days of outpatient care for his addiction to
painkillers. The arrest, Davis said, is what he needed to begin his recovery.

"I really enjoy freedom," said Davis, who is in the second phase of the
program.

Starrett said the program does more than saves lives. The state could save
more than $20 million a year in jail costs if every judicial district had a
drug court program, he said. Each prisoner costs the state about $20,000 a
year.

The state would save money in other ways, he said, because participants in
the program are required to work and support their families.

"It keeps them off welfare," Starrett said.

Drug Court

Harrison County plans to start a drug court program in South Mississippi by
summer. Circuit Judges Robert Walker, Stephen Simpson and Jerry O. Terry
said they believe the program will help people become drug-free and keep
them out of prison. Walker and Simpson will preside over the cases.

The Harrison County Board of Supervisors approved $58,000 for a drug court,
but most of the funding will come from program participants, who will pay
$50 a month for court services. The judges will meet with officials in
Stone and Hancock counties to discuss making the court available to drug
offenders in those counties. Walker said there will be about 40
participants the first year.

The program, open to first-time, non-violent drug offenders, requires
participants to be closely supervised and undergo random drug testing.
Those who sell, transfer, manufacture or distribute drugs do not qualify to
participate.