COUNTY LEGISLATOR DEFENDS DRUG-TREATMENT CONTRACT

Jackson County Legislator Dan Tarwater said Thursday that he would not ask
to rescind a drug-treatment contract that has sparked a lawsuit against him
and the County Legislature.

"If someone sues you over something and you back down, then everyone will
sue you over everything," said Tarwater, head of the Legislature's
anti-drug committee.

In its lawsuit, County Court Services Inc., a current contractor, alleges
that the Legislature illegally awarded a new contract to Addiction Recovery
Services Inc. in November. County records show that outside bid evaluators
gave Addiction Recovery's bid failing marks and gave high marks to one from
County Court Services.

Tarwater said Addiction Recovery's bid was $42,000 lower than County Court
Services. He denied that the $628,000 contract was based on favoritism.

Legislator Bill Petrie also stood by the Addiction Recovery contract.

"I think that the contract the Legislature decided on was fair," Petrie said.

The treatment program is part of the county's Drug Court and serves an
average of 400 clients at any given time. Drug charges are dropped if
defendants in the program complete a year or more of drug treatment, job
counseling and other requirements.

The Drug Court is part of Jackson County's anti-drug program, which is
funded by a quarter-cent sales tax that generates about $18 million
annually for drug prevention, treatment and law enforcement.

The contract with Addiction Recovery was put on hold Tuesday when County
Executive Katheryn Shields issued an emergency purchase order for $44,500
to continue paying County Court Services.

Thomas Schweich, attorney for County Court Services, sent a letter Thursday
to the Legislature's attorney, Kenneth McClain, urging officials to
reconsider the bid award to Addiction Recovery.

McClain said he would discuss the lawsuit with his clients in closed
session Monday. It was not clear whether the contract would be discussed
during the public part of the meeting. Some legislators said they would
like to revisit the issue.

"It makes sense to me to extend the current contract (with County Court
Services) for a little longer and look at both sides' proposals or possibly
go out for rebids," legislator Scott Burnett said.

Legislator Bob Spence agreed.

"Certainly, on the surface, it looks like it was not the right decision,"
Spence said.

Spence introduced a resolution in December to re-award the contract to
County Court Services. The resolution was not seconded and died.

"My instinct was to rescind the contract and give it to CCS, but I really
wanted the whole thing brought up in committee for more discussion," Spence
said.

Legislator Dennis Waits said no action should be taken until new
legislators Robert Stringfield and Rhonda Shoemaker, who were sworn in
Thursday, could study the issue.

"You have to be fair," Stringfield said. "This is very important. You are
talking about the drug tax and about people getting off drugs and staying
out of jail."