LAWSUIT OVER DRUG COURT TREAMENT CONTRACT DROPPED

A lawsuit accusing the Jackson County Legislature of illegally awarding a
drug court treatment contract was dismissed today.

The current vendor, County Court Services, dismissed its lawsuit after
action by county legislators on Monday. They voted to have five new outside
evaluators re-examine bids from County Court Services and another vendor,
Addiction Recovery Services Inc.

The legislators also agreed to extend the contract with County Court
Services during the re-evaluation process. Officials expect to resolve the
matter by the end of February.

In November, the legislature gave the contract to the low bidder, Addiction
Recovery. However, two outside evaluators had given Addiction Recovery's
bid failing marks while giving high marks to County Court Services.